Warning: this is (mostly) not a serious post.
I’ve been looking for an opportunity to share this non-chart chart for years, and now the excellent Harry Campbell over the The Driverless Digest has given me the opening, via Waymo! Harry just wrote about a (leaked) upcoming feature from this leading robotaxi firm, called Waymo Teen. With this option, parents can give consent for their kids (age 14-17) to ride alone in a Waymo, for example to school or polo practice or whatever. (Currently kids are not allowed to use Waymo, under the company’s Terms of Service (TOS), but of course there are violations of this going on all the time.)
So now we have Robotaxi Teen Mode.
I’ve been going to AV conferences on and off for over a decade. The topics discussed along the way include all the obvious ones (sensors, computing power, regulations, consumer acceptance, fleet management, etc.) but also attendees have had some fun coming up with Unforeseen Consequences. (Look, when you’re a tech geek, you have to find your fun where you can.) I’ve been accumulating these operating “Modes” and figure I can now share them with you, lucky readers.
(“Chipchase” means the source for these Modes is Jan Chipchase, an expert in how humans interact with technology. Check him out. But if someone actually implements Convoy Ads, it’s his fault!)
(Also, I apologize to the residents of Anchorage, which I am sure is a very nice place. If you’re indulging in Vengeance Mode there, please replace the name of your town with a different suitably-distant locale. Say, Cleveland.)
I am sure you can imagine your own new Modes: send ‘em my way if you wish, and I will update this post with them.
But. Humans. They mess things up. Every new technology is abused in various ways unintended by its inventors. So it is with a heavy heart I point out one more Mode:
“Bomb Delivery Mode.” Place bomb on the front seat, set the timer, say “Times Square,” and send the AV on its deadly mission.
You may think I am making this up, but I assure you I am not. See the FBI on this topic, and the Institute for Economics and Peace. In this era of weaponized AV drones, do we really think we won’t see weaponized AV cars?
With good luck and good will, may Beagle Mode be the worst of our AV outcomes.
Back to more mainstream posts soon.