The self-driving taxicab from “Total Recall”
Every now and then, some chump from the government accidentally says something that says a whole lot more than he really means to say.
As the Obama administration (God help us) announces its total support for driverless cars–pay no attention to those annoying crashes–the director of the National Economic Council says, “We envision in the future, you can take your hands off the wheel” ( http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/20/technology/self-driving-cars-guidelines.html ).
Isn’t that precisely what world leaders have been doing for the last eight years?
Take your hands off the wheel. Let the car drive itself. Let your life drive itself, while you’re at it. Responsibility? What’s that? Just let ‘er rip! And if you’re running a country, just keep those crazy public policies coming hot and heavy, and never mind the consequences–take your hands off the wheel!
The director adds that it’s gonna be really great that the cars of the near future will be autonomous.
Too bad the people in them won’t be.
I’m not sure they will ever master driver-less cars. Driving requires judgment calls and breaking the rules at times, two things computers are not good at.
I’d like to borrow, and spread, those last 2 lines.
Be my guest.
Chilling!