It is incredible that the self-driving car which sounded so futuristic growing up is now becoming the present. Overall, I think society will have mixed reviews on the continued development and adoption of self-driving cars. Personally, I am excited and think the impact will be mostly positive and beneficial, but I am aware of several consequences that may not be so great. I think the process should start slowly with only a few self-driving cars at a time. There should not be an immediate switch but rather a gradual one. There are many cons when it comes to the implementation of self-driving cars. The most obvious negative is the amount of people that would lose their jobs. Uber drivers, truck drivers, food deliveries etc.. The only bright side to the loss of jobs is that many will be gained. But to the drivers out of jobs, the new jobs benefit them little as they are probably out of their field of knowledge or interest. The article mentions as many as “5 million” drivers will lose their jobs. Another aspect to be aware of is how much has to go into system processing. The article mentioned being able to distinguish a shopping cart and an individual in a wheelchair. With so many variables it is possible the programming or build goes wrong. It is also possible for glitches to occur. This is scary because it may mean a deadly accident. With this accident, comes the question of who is to blame. Also, the question of when it is okay to break the law to save a life arose in the article. How do we determine what classifies as an okay law to break. Also, this brings the question of can a self-driving car be ticketed? Who pays the ticket? Police departments make a lot of money off tickets, what do they do if they no longer have that revenue.
Despite the negatives, there are many positives to come from self-driving cars. First, the article mentions “the global economy will see a $7 trillion boost… $2 trillion for the US alone.” Beyond this, having self-driving cars can eliminate human error and save many lives. There is not the worry of truck drivers dozing off or the one jerk who swerves in and out of lanes at 100 mph. Individuals with impairments that prevented them from driving will no longer have to depend on another person to take them. There are many ways that the everyday citizen could take advantage of the self-driving car. This is of course considering if they are not too expensive.