Demolition Man was a movie set in the year 2032. iRobot was set in 2035. These two movies have more in common than just two trigger-happy, old fashioned policemen. They have self-driving-tell-them-where-you-will-go-and-they-will-take-you-there-cars.
The last time I checked my phone – because who checks calendars anymore – it is just 2017. Some 15 years before creators of those movies projected that we’ll have autonomous driving. It is astounding when the thought sinks in. Elon Musk, the force behind Tesla, has created a wonderful tool for making driving easier and more comfortable. Videos are already on YouTube – and we got some here. A particular video is shown here testing version 7.0 of the software update which has the Autopilot system in a Tesla Model S. Videos vary with results. From plain and boring to plain and stupid.
But Mr. Musk had it clear when he said that the Autopilot feature does not incorporate autonomous driving. It still needs human oversight. But he says to give it some five or six years to fully realize autonomous driving. Come to think of it, that is still 10 years earlier than the movies’ prediction.
But you are here, reading this blog, because you are a petrol head. And like Sylvester Stallone and Will Smith’s characters in the movies, I am not all too excited about driverless technology. I prefer to be the flaw in a driverless world because a car with no flaws is perfect. Therefore, it is boring.