When you were younger and would dream about what the future would be like, surely you imagined self-driving or even flying cars. Our IT expert, Rion Kolosieke, joined Guy Phillips and his crew last week for Tech Talk to discuss where current technology is at when it comes to self-driving vehicles and the different concerns it could bring to the roadways.
A self-driving car is classified as a vehicle that is capable of being aware of its environment and can move with little to no human interaction. These vehicles use a slew of advanced controls and sensory technology to navigate appropriate paths as well as acknowledge obstacles and signals around them.
While the concept of autonomous cars sounds futuristic and like it would make life easier, technology has a lot of catching up to do before we're seeing drivers relaxing and drinking coffee while their vehicle takes them to work. Driving can be unpredictable, and people are forced to make significant decisions in a matter of seconds when behind the wheel. If humans sometimes struggle to make the right decision under pressure, it's hard to trust that a piece of technology could do the same. There will always be human error and unknown circumstances that can happen while driving.
The future of self-driving vehicles doesn't rest solely on the shoulders of technology. For the cars to be a success, vehicle manufacturers, insurance companies, and legislation would have to come to multiple agreements. Not only would the logistics of self-driving vehicles need to be worked out, but there would also need to be buy-in from consumers. As Rion and Guy mentioned, some people enjoy driving and more than likely, there would be instances where people would not want to give up the full freedom of the road.
Just like with other technologies on the market, there are cyber security concerns when it comes to the future of cars. Earlier this year, the electric car maker, Tesla, participated in a hacking competition. The event challenged hackers with trying to find security issues with the Tesla Model 3 car. After the a participant found a security flaw, they were awarded a Model 3, courtesy of Tesla! The company then went in and fixed the security issue.
Rion explained that companies don't know about every hole that exists within their technology until someone exploits it. A lot of work goes into developing the technology that we use every day, but flaws happen. As of now, there are no set security standards for self-driving cars, and there would need to be in order for them to successfully hit the market. Guy Phillips and the group came to the same conclusion that there are a lot of other kinks that need to be worked out when it comes to cars before we begin taking drivers out of the equation entirely.
Each week the IT Experts at SumnerOne host Tech Talk on The Big 550 KTRS with Guy Phillips. Tune in every Friday afternoon at 4:20 to learn more and stay up-to-date on the latest with technology and cyber security. To learn more about SumnerOne, contact us.