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Elon Musk: Human drivers are dangerous

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mspohr

Well-Known Member
Jul 27, 2014
13,647
18,791
California
Elon keynote at the NVIDIA developer's conference today:
"I don't think we have to worry about autonomous cars, because it's sort of like a narrow form of AI," Musk told NVidia co-founder and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang at the technology company's annual developers conference today. "It would be like an elevator. They used to have elevator operators, and we developed some simple circuitry for elevators just automatically to come to the floor you're at... the car is going to be just like that." So what happens when we get there? Musk said that the obvious move is to outlaw driving cars. "It's too dangerous," Musk said. "You can't have a person driving a two-ton death machine."

Elon Musk: cars you can drive will eventually be outlawed | The Verge
 
Then WTF build cars that can accelerate as quickly as a P85D? An autonomous car will never accelerate that quickly so it's a complete waste. One constant in the world, you can always count on Elon for a gaffe. The guy seriously has no filter.
 
When I was a kid cigarettes were considered innocuous by many. Now they are widely viewed as deadly. Which they clearly are.

Someday cars driven by humans will be considered too dangerous compared to cars controlled by computers, and that will make perfect sense at every level.

Elon is usually pretty far ahead of the curve...
 
Then WTF build cars that can accelerate as quickly as a P85D? An autonomous car will never accelerate that quickly so it's a complete waste. One constant in the world, you can always count on Elon for a gaffe. The guy seriously has no filter.

Because it makes money. I don't see why an autonomous car wouldn't accelerate fast. It's just another way to have fun. And since in an aut8nomous vehicle you wouldn't have to face all in the same direction, or to pay attention to the road, there might be some extra fun in graduated acceleration.
 
I think the question to ask is, "Does Musk believe the autonomous car is coming whether we want it or not" or "Does Musk believe the autonomous car is going to be better than sliced bread"? That is, does he support the idea or is he simply stating his personal prediction of the future like we might predict gas prices will rise?
 
There's no point in denying the inevitable - it will most certainly come to pass because it's already essentially doable today, and the average safety is presumably already well above humans. But you can never be sure of course, much like one might have thought CGI characters in movies would take over and actors would no longer exist by now. But that's not happening yet...at all. :confused:
 
Elon is referring to the far future, which he clarified in his tweet. People will see driving a car as a waste of brain power. Imagine just getting in your car and it taking you places. Complaining about not driving will be like complaining that your car needs a louder exhaust.
 
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I think the question to ask is, "Does Musk believe the autonomous car is coming whether we want it or not" or "Does Musk believe the autonomous car is going to be better than sliced bread"? That is, does he support the idea or is he simply stating his personal prediction of the future like we might predict gas prices will rise?

He has already answered you question:
 
Then WTF build cars that can accelerate as quickly as a P85D? An autonomous car will never accelerate that quickly so it's a complete waste. One constant in the world, you can always count on Elon for a gaffe. The guy seriously has no filter.

Well +1. It is a very unusual filter that can just as easily launch into hyperbole (some might call this 'truth bending') should the situation present itself. It is nevertheless just as entertaining to watch as, almost as entertaining as an autonomous car.
 
Drove about 150 miles today. Made an estimated 20 corrections due to idiots in the road, at least 2 of which could have been harmful or fatal otherwise (entirely the fault of the other driver).

This is pretty average IMO. I fear other idiot drivers on road more than any existing or future autonomous vehicle thats for sure.
 
I fear other idiot drivers on road more than any existing or future autonomous vehicle thats for sure.
I so agree. I'm in Texas, the "country" where people don't believe in safe driving distances and signaling.

US manufacturing, Autopilot, range, and comfort are the top 4 reasons I reserved the MX. I hope Tesla delivers the "easy" features right away (slow speeds, parking, lane control. and highway speeds).
 
We are nowhere near autonomous driving today, at least not in bad weather conditions. The TACC on my Model S lasts for about 3 minutes in heavy snow until the sensor ices over and lane assist can't read lane lines when they are not visible due to snow. Not to mention that it thinks streetcar tracks in cities like Toronto are lane markers.