Lunch Hour Lecture: If self-driving cars are the answer, what’s the question?

About the lecture: On public roads, private test tracks and inside computer models, self-driving cars are currently learning to drive. The hype and the amounts of investment are huge. The enthusiasts think that self-driving cars will make the world safer, cleaner, happier and more efficient. Critics worry that they could be dangerous, that they could increase the number of cars on our roads or that they will only benefit rich people. Who should we believe and how should we find out? Experiments are currently underway, but they are disorganised. There have already been some high-profile crashes. A worrying number of Tesla drivers are testing their cars’ ‘Autopilot' systems to the limit. Bad experiments could lead to bad policy. Self-driving cars are not just a test of artificial intelligence. They are also a test of our intelligence as we decide how the world around us could look in the future.

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