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Ready For Your Halting State Driverless Drone Future?

A future-oriented post on Motherboard averred that there would still be jobs in the age of robots. For example:

As transport systems become more sophisticated, remote-controlled vehicle operators will operate airplanes, buses, and helicopters from the comfort of safe, land-based hubs. They will no longer need to be physically present in their vehicles, but instead will teleoperate them. These workers will be trained in the “theory” of flight or driving, and will know how to adapt to changing weather conditions by adjusting their vehicle-operating joysticks.

I'm pretty sure that Charles Stross thought about this at least a decade ago, and shared it with us in his 2007 novel Halting State, which I liked a lot.

A fleet of driverless BMW SUVs appear, bouncing slowly over the traffic pillows and pull in next to you, flagrantly ingnoring the red route markings and security notices. They've got diplomatic plates. Doors spring open, and you find yourself gently inserted into the empty driver's seat of the third vehicle as Liz and the leader of the hit squad slide in the back. The steering wheel twitches hesitantly, then as the doors click shut it spins hard over and the yuppiemobile accelerates fast. You try not to shudder. You hate the whole idea that some bored drone pusher in a remote driving centre has got your life - and half a dozen other lives - in his hands. At least on the motorways the cars steer themselves, that's within the capabilities of today's AI.

Pretty nuanced discussion of the levels of autonomous cars we've seen in the last year or so.

Via Motherboard.

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