Last time I wrote about using artificial intelligence in cars to bring full autonomy, and discussed how the car industry and vehicle technology obviously will change dramatically in the next five to ten years on the path to offering us autonomous cars. But there are a few questions to be answered before we can see this happen.
First, the cost. It is estimated that a fully autonomous car could need technology worth as much as $100 000. We need to install sensors and software and work with engineering, power and computing requirements. Of course the cost will go down as technology develops, but it won’t happen soon. On the bright side, the US Department of Transportation has announced $4 billion over 10 years to speed up development around autonomous cars.
What about security? Security of our driving data is very important. We cannot risk this data ending up in the wrong hands. So the auto industry has developed a framework for automotive cybersecurity best practices, hoping to incorporate security and privacy protections in cars of the future. Insurance companies have already started to look at driver behavior to adjust insurance policies, and there are already models to match behavior to risk by analyzing big data. Security of data and information is of utmost importance. We probably need to have an opt-in setup, where the driver decides to share their data to get the advantages of what the new technology can offer.
And what about the regulations? The Swedish government, for example, recently initiated a study to look at the laws and regulations that need to be adjusted for this new world. Who is responsible when an autonomous car is involved in an accident? Several companies have already clearly stated that they will take the liability if any of their cars are to blame for the accident. In a recent accident involving a Google autonomous car, this is exactly what happened. Google said they bear “some responsibility” for the crash. But what about the other car manufacturers, and what about your country? Isn’t it always the driver who is responsible? Today, the driver is to blame, even if you were on auto drive. For tomorrow, there are many laws to consider changing.
There are still a few questions that remain to be answered before autonomous cars will be predominant. But it seems like everyone is on track; the transport authorities, the auto makers and the politics are all going in the same direction. The technology seems to be ready to offer us fully autonomous cars sooner than we think. It’s the other stuff that needs to be fixed. The price needs to go down, the data must be secure and the laws must be clear.
But as I also mentioned in my previous post, General Motors are convinced that the car industry will change more in the next five to ten years than it has done in the last 50. And the clock is ticking.
