Do you think AI (artificial intelligence) is something to be feared?

I see AI as being in its infancy. It's not yet a mature technology IMO.

infant AI is perfect for driverless cars 

an engineering prof of mine was working on a concept like that 40+ years ago. there's obviously much better technology available to make it happen now

Simulation allows researchers to intentionally create danger, including crashes, to speed up the learning process, but gaining enough confidence in Autonomoose to actually drive it in autonomous mode on a public road – a quiet, two-kilometre loop in an industrial park – isn’t expected to happen until this fall.

Researchers would be thrilled to build on that milestone, likely to be a first in Canada, by letting the car drive itself to campus through signalled intersections and roundabouts on multi-lane city streets from a test track several kilometres away by the end of the year.

With even more daunting challenges ahead, such as how to train a car to decide between hitting an object that suddenly appears in its path and risking a rear-end collision by slamming on the brakes, Czarnecki is also dubious of the most optimistic time estimates for full commercial automation.

Significant deployment is likely 10 years away

“Realistically, I think that within the next 10 years we will have some significant deployment of these cars on the road,” he says. “What will happen in the shorter term is really difficult to say.”

Despite the tremendous promise of AI, Fischmeister has a fundamental concern: understanding how the computer brains in control of vehicles will respond when confronted with new situations, as they inevitably will be.

As a result, his focus is on developing separate software to monitor those systems and put vehicles into safe mode – stopping or pulling over to the side of the road, for instance – when things seem to be going awry.

“Computers are stupid,” says Fischmeister, also an electrical and computer engineering professor. “They only do what you tell them to do and nothing extra. It’s the same thing for systems that rely solely on learning. At the moment, they only behave based on what they have learned.

“I like technology and I believe learning-based systems are essential for autonomous vehicles, but I point out problems – and I’m curious how people will solve them.”

Uber suspends use of self-driving cars

Ride-sharing giant Uber said it is suspending use of self-driving cars after one of the vehicles struck and killed a pedestrian in the US state of Arizona.

The Uber vehicle was in autonomous mode, with an operator behind the wheel, when it hit a woman walking in the street in the city of Tempe, according to the San Francisco-based company.

The victim was hospitalized and later died from her injuries.

"Our hearts go out to the victim's family," an Uber spokesperson said. "We are fully cooperating with local authorities in their investigation of this incident."

Uber said it had temporarily halted its use of self-driving cars for testing or customer rides in Tempe, Pittsburgh, Toronto, and San Francisco.

Tempe is one of just two cities -- along with Pittsburgh -- where the ride-sharing firm has been using autonomous vehicles as part of its regular passenger.

Note that automated cars could also be loaded with explosives and programmed to drive through a busy street and Ka-Boom. Or just be programmed to run over people... They're more of a hazard than a convenience, me think.

And you sound like a broken record. Try and pay attention. Remote control vs programmed makes very little actual difference. The point is that driver-less cars will make car bombing easier.

You mean remote control of the bomb, not of the car, I suppose? That's nothing new, it's a banal modus operandi, only marginally more sophisticated than a time bomb. It can be discovered and diffused. In contrast, a driveless car could deliver a sizeable bomb right when and where you want it.

Remote control vs programmed makes very little actual difference. The point is that driver-less cars will make car bombing easier.