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0 pointspipo2342y ago0 comments

Multiple promising experiments show that it's technically possible. That's an important step, but still mostly shows this is theoretically working until you can show me a profitable company that replaced human drivers without huge VC subsidies.

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AlotOfReading2y ago· 1 in thread

I feel like the term "self driving car" is solely about the technical performance. The financials of whether they make sense as commercial vehicles or if the companies running them are profitable are entirely separate matters.

To put it another way, a computer that only the 5 richest kings in Europe can afford is still a computer.

pipo234OP2y ago

Okay, that makes sense. Men on moon was 5 years away in 1964. I might argue that today men on the moon are over 50 years away, in the sense that currently there's no-one there. Guess it's a half-full / half-empty, discussion. Technically, humans can walk the moon, but moon walking isn't actually a thing.

With self-driving cars, I'd argue mixed bag. Yes, it's already possible (with caveats), but "no" it's also at least five years away. When can I have it? When would it make sense for an existing cab company to jump ship? I mean, fire the drivers and replace old fleet with commodity self driving cars.

Personally I'm not so interested in what kings, millionaires, governments can achieve unless it's either a stunning scientific achievement or somehow relevant improvement to society.

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