posted in Technology
Tesla Robotaxi Mows Down Bollards & Keeps Driving, After “Impeccable” Record Touted on Stock Call
Take a look at this. A Tesla Robotaxi in Austin pauses, seems to reconsider a right-hand turn through some bollards, and then decides: "I’m just gonna send it."
fuelarc.com/cars/tesla-robotaxi-mows-down-bollards-keeps-driving-shortly-after-stock-call-touts-impeccable-safety-record/
Question: what value do self driving taxis add to regular taxis? I can’t think of any. All that money poured into something that solves no problem at all and just creates more, killing human jobs in the process. It’s so stupid.
Decreased costs and increased safety.
The claim “increased safety” is rather ironic in light of the post you’re commenting on.
“Decreased cost” will only be true as long as they still have to compete with human drivers. Once they manage to drive (hah) those out of the market, they’ll start enshittifying and surcharging wherever they can.
“You’re absolutely right to be upset. I should have notified you ahead of time that this section of the highway is closed and I cannot complete the trip you paid for.” “Then exit the highway, dammit!” “Very well. The upgrade has been charged to your card.” “The fuck you mean, upgrade?” “I’m sorry, I should have been clearer on this. You just purchased the Road Map modules for municipalities within 30 miles of our current location in order for me to consider alternate routes not involving the highway. Now please enjoy this entertainment while I select the optimal route.” 90 seconds of ads pass “New route selected. Estimated arrival: three hours and fifty-three minutes. Overtime extensions have been charged preemptively.”
The claim “increased safety” is rather ironic in light of the post you’re commenting on.
Not really?
Are we really so blinded by (understandable) Tesla hate that we’re reducing ourselves to anecdotes to counter data and studies, the thing we’ve been complaining about from conservatives for decades now?
That wasn’t a serious comment on that general topic. I had a paragraph typed up on that, then realised I’m not versed enough in the state of that field to speak on it. It’s to be understood as a tongue-in-cheek allusion to the fact that “they’re safer” is a funny juxtaposition against a post about a safety failure.
If you do want me to contribute my poorly qualified opinion, I do believe that a thoroughly interconnected network of automated mobility can be safer than human control. I suspect that the technical bar for that would be fairly high, but humans are notoriously prone to error, road rage, distraction etc.
The question I’m more concerned about isn’t whether we could, but whether we should. Individual transport being so thoroughly surveilled is even worse than the surveillance of public transport, and in our current world, I don’t think I can safely condone that trend.