Reviving revolution of self-driving cars

The world was shocked when Uber’s self-driving vehicle was blamed for the death of a pedestrian.

This harkened Isaac Asimov’s first law of robotics stating, ‘A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm’. The tragedy has led to a halt in the fervour to bring about this technology to the public as several AI companies have frozen their pursuit of self-driving car research.

But this hiatus won’t last. Self-driving cars have the potential to change the social fabric of society in many ways. Autonomous driving works by combining a few different technologies that, until recently, were something of science fiction. One of the main technologies is called “deep learning”. Deep learning is an aspect of artificial intelligence used to recognise patterns in data, including pictures.

The second technology that is going to make self-driving cars more feasible is 5G mobile networks. So, what does 5G technology bring? Very high-speed mobile data with upto 400 Mbps (megabits per second) in ideal circumstances.

5G is important for the ‘Internet of Things’ which will include self-driving cars. It is going to change our lives by enabling massive data to traverse through mobile networks as if the devices were connected to fibre optic cables.

What are some of the necessary 5G actions that are required by autonomous cars? Synchronising with traffic lights, for starters. Imagine the cost savings on energy if a billion drivers worldwide were never surprised by a yellow light and had to brake suddenly. I’m certain this would prevent an uncountable number of accidents as well.

Another necessity is real-time updates on traffic conditions to optimise routes driven and communicating with adjacent vehicles to coordinate lane changes or exiting the freeway safely. Imagine if every car around you on the freeway had a 60-second ‘heads up’ that the next exit was yours and they had the ability to coordinate their adjustments to let you safely exit. This would be the antithesis of ‘road rage’.

The testing and verification of 5G mobile technology is paramount to ensuring safe autonomous driving. Our society is becoming increasingly dependent on the fidelity of our communication networks and this will hold especially true for 5G.

Security, social impact

The more control over our lives we give to technology, the more we open ourselves to abuses of that technology. This is why thorough security testing and skillsets involving secure code writing are becoming more important than ever.

Road rage would take on a whole new meaning if a frazzled hacker had the ability to swerve a vehicle into danger remotely. These are the things we need to prepare for with the seriousness it deserves. Government regulation over this industry, including mandatory security auditing of all networked software in vehicles, will be compulsory before we surrender control of our vehicles.

Self-driving cars will change social behaviour in a significant way. The interior of vehicles will be crafted to maximise office productivity and for entertainment. Binge-watching media on a large screen or video conferencing in your car will be the norm. Taking a nap in traffic, when you’re alone in the car, will be a sweet respite from the busy world.

Eventually, people may not even learn how to drive. It will have gone the way of composing a formal letter by hand. This could end millions of jobs in the line of trucking and delivery. This trend has been ongoing since the industrial revolution where job destruction takes place due to advancements in technology. However, I am confident that we are going to continue to adapt because technology has always created more jobs than it has destroyed.

Energy efficiency is another macroeconomic factor in favour of this technology. Self-driving cars will travel at optimal speeds to maximise energy efficiency and take the most expedient routes. Even small energy savings, multiplied by a billion daily car trips, would be significant.

Paradigm shifting technology, such as allowing artificial intelligence to become humanity’s chauffeur, requires prudent steps to be taken. Testing the security of these emerging technologies, as well as the mobile networks that they leverage, is of the utmost importance.

We all want to enjoy lowered blood pressure and a binge-worthy show while deep learning and 5G mobile schlep us to and from our, already stressful enough, jobs.

(The writer is Principal Product Manager, Applications and Security, Keysight Technologies)