My husband brought up the concept of autonomous cars, and for reasons I cannot explain, I became angry. The actual idea that the auto insurance companies could make it to where only those with a lot of money, will be able to afford the insurance required to drive a car. That one day, the majority of the cars, on the road, will not have drivers, but will be ran by an automated system, for some reason upsets me.

I do not own a car, but that is because we live in the city. When the time comes, and I have to leave the city, I will want to have my own car. I enjoy driving, and I do not want to have that taken from me, while I’m able to.

Now, can I see a benefit for having autonomous cars? Yes, when I stop and give it thought, people like my mom, who have no business driving at their age, would benefit from it. I just do not think that it needs to be main stream. I think we are already working towards losing so much ‘how to’ knowledge because we are becoming dependent on automated processes. For example, I once had the ability to remember the phone numbers of everyone I was close to. Now, I know mine and my husbands, the rest are on my phone.

Maybe I’m old-fashion, and set in my ways, I don’t know. I just know that I’m not happy that we keep finding ways to take personal involvement out of things, and just interface with automated processes.

Additional Note:

The original discussion was on autonomous cars that you called on, like an Uber. When we talked about the kind used in Demolition Man, I can see being ok with these. This way, the driver has the option to drive or not. We are not losing out on a skill, and if we happen to have a few too many drinks, well let’s just say I can see lives saved.