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Self-driving vehicles would be a game-changer for transportation, however, the technology hasn't progressed as swiftly as manufacturers and tech companies had hoped.
Cars do not yet have the ability to drive by themselves. The Society of Automotive Engineering (SAE) has identified six levels of autonomy, ranging from zero to five (full self-driving in all conditions). Level 1 technology, like lane-keep aid and adaptive cruise control, is now standard in most new cars. Level 2 systems, such as Tesla's Autopilot and GM's Super Cruise, allow the car to handle speed and steering while requiring the driver to maintain continual attention in the event they need to take control.
Technology still has a long way to go. Artificial intelligence has made fast advances in a variety of sectors, but it has yet to master driving at the rate that futurists predicted five to ten years ago. Safe driving necessitates not just the use of a vehicle's controls, but also the comprehension of complicated social relationships and the prediction of human behavior, both of which have proven difficult to master. Most manufacturers' systems require high-speed cameras and sensors, which must develop and become cost-effective in order for broad adoption to be possible.
Regulating autonomous cars will very certainly remain a challenge once the technology is in place. Industry and government authorities must first define what self-driving means — if the SAE rules are perplexing, you're not alone — and then establish safety requirements. This involves resolving thorny ethical and liability issues like who is responsible if a self-driving vehicle kills someone. On top of that, automakers must persuade the public that self-driving cars are viable. According to AAA polls, more than 70% of Americans are concerned about self-driving automobiles.
Insurance is another major stumbling block on the way to self-driving cars. Who will be held responsible? What impact does this have on insurance? What is the procedure for determining liability? This, once again, necessitates the redesigning of a system that was never meant to deal with the problem in the first place.
Vehicles must always have a driver who is accountable for the vehicle, yet self-driving technologies rip up the road code, forcing politicians to establish new, more flexible rules while repealing or amending existing ones. This is easier said than done, considering the number of jurisdictions.
The absence of industry uniformity is one of the major obstacles. Many firms, like Tesla, Google, Apple, and others, are creating their own autonomous driving technologies, and they're not generally working together to standardize the technology.
The sensors in automobiles are more efficient than human senses in many aspects, and they don't need to have a blind spot or be confined to viewing during daylight hours. Sensors, on the other hand, have flaws. Sensors can malfunction and they can be vulnerable to icing as well as bad weather. Another problem with self-driving technology is developing more dependable sensors with fail-safe mechanisms.
As they gather more and more data, self-driving cars are always learning. This improves them, but there is a risk that computers will learn incorrectly as a result of this. How can we be certain that the system will be as secure as it was previously?
Estimates differ. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has stated that complete autonomy will be available by the end of 2021, however, he has stated that it will be available in 2017, 2019, and 2020 also. The industry view is more pessimistic; there is cautious confidence that Level 4 autonomy will be available in the next several years, but only in a few locations. Few experts are willing to put forth a specific timeline for Level 5, which most believe will take decades.
