I’d like to say the most entertaining thing about my job at Argo AI is riding around Miami Beach in self-driving test cars several days a week. But

It’s Not a Self-Driving Car Unless You Can Sleep In It

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2021-07-27 10:00:09

I’d like to say the most entertaining thing about my job at Argo AI is riding around Miami Beach in self-driving test cars several days a week. But that would be a lie. The most entertaining thing about my job is reading about self-driving cars while riding in the back of one.

My newsfeed is filled with news and opinions about self-driving, and most of it doesn’t make any sense. Apparently self-driving cars are already here, or will never happen. They’re also far safer than human drivers, or never will be. You can also buy one today, or you’ll never be able to.

It would be easy — at least from the backseat of an actual self-driving car — to say half these people are wrong. But that wouldn’t solve the actual problem: “self-driving” means different things to different people, which is why people seem to disagree about it so much.

Electricity doesn’t have that problem. I have power, or I don’t. My lights turn on, or they don’t. People can disagree over how to generate electricity, but no one says it can’t be generated.