The Essence of Automation: Driverless Cars & Their Limitations

Most people fear robots are out for their jobs. But when you appreciate how automation works, you might view automation as an opportunity, not a threat.

Consider driverless cars. As MIT Professor David Autor explains, although they appear to be flexible, they’re not. Driverless cars are like trains on invisible tracks. But we only have train tracks, not car tracks. So how do driverless cars work?

Autor explains that driverless vehicles must be trained and constrained.

Trained means a driverless car must be taught where traffic lights are, which routes to take, and the speed limit before it works. If you drop a driverless car in a city it hasn’t been trained for, it stops.

Constrained means limited. Cars require smooth, even surfaces with shallow grades and gradual turns. Fathom Maps provides a vivid view of how man has constrained the environment. The ink on this map of Massachusetts represents human-made roads. Joni Mitchell might say we paved paradise, put up a parking lot and roads.

Any robotic system needs the “invisible tracks” created by training and artificial constraints: automated manufacturing lines, mechanical healthcare systems, mass transit systems. Tomorrow’s post, The Essence of Automation: Human Genius Creates Possibilities, will discuss the impact of automation on human jobs.

Roads, in white ink, are required to make automation possible. Fathom Maps.