Imagine some time in the future when self-driving cars are safe and affordable.
How do you think self-driving ability (SDA) could affect our daily lives?
I can see three scenarios:
1) SDA is not used that much and has not much impact.
Maybe every car will have autonomous driving capability as a feature but people don’t use it that much. Having the car take over could be more of an option than a must; for example in dense traffic or on the daily commute. But other than that driving a car yourself could still be considered fun.
Our lives wouldn’t change that much. We may feel better than now when our kids start driving because the car will always actively monitor their actions and maybe even intervene. Maybe if we are out on a bike ride and have a problem, we’ll be able to call the car and get a ride back home without a problem. Maybe DUIs will disappear because cars might not start without passing an alcohol test. If we don’t pass the car may drive us home instead.
2) SDA is used a lot but has not much impact.
Maybe everyone will sit in their own car, now on the passenger seat and enjoy the stress-free ride to work.
Maybe we just give up driving ourselves, but still enjoy owning a car. There might not be cab drivers anymore, I don’t know. It’s one thing to have your own car – that you know and take care of yourself – pick you up, but trusting a car that you don’t know take control requires another level of trust. Not sure if I’d want to do away with some human representation in this case. Some things would probably change, cars could interact with each other help avoid traffic jams, move quickly out of the way for firetrucks so helping decrease response times, but self-driving cars would not cause a complete change in how we live beyond the road.
3) SDA is used a lot and completely disrupts our life as we know it.
Maybe we will do away with personal car ownership. We will call a car just how we call a taxi or an Uber/Lyft today. The car arrives, drives us to our destination and then drives off to park or to pick up its next guest. Just thinking about this scenario, I can see very significant direct and indirect changes to our daily life far beyond the road. It’s exciting and scary at the same time. But maybe my thinking is too far out there.
Check back tomorrow if you want to know what I came up with.