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Comment by OsrsNeedsf2P | Hacker News Reader

Ok, and?

Then they’re not really self driving are they?

The assistants don't have access to the gas pedal or steering wheel input. The car is the only thing actually piloting the car i.e. self driving

* Unless it gets super stuck, then a human drives out and gets into the physical driver seat and takes over

Which is certainly better than just having a human remote drive.

But it’s still not the impression they’ve been giving. It’s been an impression of full automation (ignoring getting stuck) and if it’s not navigating on its own that’s disingenuous.

The car will always get stuck every now and then.

This approach has two benefits: it can be unstuck without sending out a physical driver and while collecting training data, and it efficiently lets m humans control n cars with a wide range of acceptable m and n values.

It's intended for the ratio of m:n to smoothly shrink as the software gets better, but m will always be greater than zero.

My assumption is they can provide input such as "you should make a left/right lane change" to get out of a "stuck" location.

So when the car's systems prevent it from taking a specific action, they can override it for a single instance.

People are somewhat surprised about this work being farmed out to the Philippines as opposed to being done by Americans. I'm pretty sure you don't need me to explain this, though.

Do they have driver's licenses from a US state?

Waymo has a blog post on what these remote assistance people do: https://waymo.com/blog/2024/05/fleet-response/

They effectively are answering questions like "is this road closed", or "is the object in front of me a solid object or a weird shadow".

These are not the sort of questions that US driver's license is really related to, it's not things like "can I legally turn right on red at this intersection".

Do we require a driver's license to solve Google reCapture questions like "what squares have a bike in them"? Because the waymo stuff is closer to image classification than driving.

I think if you took a buddy with you to the drivers license test in America and asked your buddy these questions during the test. You and your buddy are both failing. Unless test was in India over tea and not in a car.

I guess you're saying that because a waymo car can't walk into the DMV and get a license, it shouldn't be on the road? (which of course it can't, you have to have a legal human identity to get a normal driver's license, and we don't let cars have humanity currently)

Driver's licenses are legal constructs. The DMV certifies self-driving cars as able to drive on the road differently, and sure, those two different processes are different.

I really don't get the point you're trying to make here.

Replace waymo with Optimus, same thing applies.

If they have a driver’s license from the Philippines, then it should be enough. Just like foreign tourists can rent and drive cars in the US without needing a US state driver’s license.

Do you think American tourists have to take a Filipino driver’s license when they rent a car on vacation?

Is Waymo software licensed by a dmv ?

Yes. Something you should intuit, and is eaisly confirmed with a quick search. It is licensed to drive and the conditions underwhich it may do so are clearly stipulated. If it didnt require a license elon would have his deathtraps littering roadsides with mangled flesh and steel everywhere. Perhaps ask yourself why you asked such a misguided question and consider what you can do different in your cognitive patternd to avoid it in the future.

So if it is licensed, the entire stack is licensed even if there are dogs pressing buttons on the other side of the planet.

Elons cars are already driving by themselves against the conditions they are licensed for, causing accidents and the liability falls to the drivers.

Aka, licensing means absolutely nothing. Specially today.

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