Autonomous Freightliner heavy-duty truck is on the road...
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SutDTIhbQ2g

OK, the safe one?

Self-driving Freightliner Inspiration rolls out on public roads in Nevada - CNET

Businesses are 'hell-bent' on eliminating driver's jobs...just like trains did for 'Train Conductors' and cabooses.

Who's gonna be held "liable" when GPS says "right-turn" into a grade-school instead of going straight as the road actually goes?

Don't think the DOT AND Teamsters will allow to eliminate 'drivers'. They will still require 'operators' in those seats and for yard/dock operations. Semi-autonomous operation for long haul OTR driving will definitely help in fuel efficiencies and driver safety. Specialty drivers are still needed for special cargo and difficult roadway conditions. More like cruise control on steroids.

Trains are the easiest things to automate, and I suspect they will be sans-engineer before too long. Heck, they are already automated in places such as airports.

As for cars going into grade schools, that will happen less and less frequently as the technology is developed. We already have people driving into grade schools, so autonomous cars will likely improve on the incidence of these accidents. My mom reversed into the house at full throttle a few months back when she went to apply the brake; an accident that never would have occurred if the car was in control.

Accidents will eventually reduce to a point that vehicles won't have to be designed to survive a collision, and occupants won't have to wear seat belts or have airbags. Perhaps one day we won't even be required to carry liability insurance, or it will be so cheap as to be an insignificant cost.

Autonomous systems never get tired, never get distracted, and never get emotional. They are only prone to interpreting data incorrectly, which is a much easier problem to solve than any of the human error factors.

Then people are redundant and can be done away with altogether.

These will still wear out rubber tires at the same rate.

What we need is hyperloop freight trains. Autonomous hyperloop freight trains.

I bet alot of these trucks get robbed and entire trailers get stolen.

What's going to stop you? a GPS and a camera? Pshhh good luck! all you need is a plastic bag and a can of paint for that!

It will be days before they even notice! The tractor pulls into a warehouse and parks waiting for the yard jockey to park the 53' beast. Wait no trailer?!?

Where is it? Who knows! (no one) the GPS on the trailer was disabled 3 days ago.


Don't mind me just thinking about career plan B here.......

Future Human Unemployment
 

Great podcast with Martin Ford, Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future!

Review The Future | Listen via Stitcher Radio On Demand

Theft...yeah...

I used to drive a truck a hundred years ago, and I can tell you that the human drivers are not always as pure as the driven snow, and are sometimes willing participants in theft.

And lots and lots of drivers will not do much to prevent a theft if it involves their safety. "Hey, I'm not risking my neck for 15.75 an hour.

The machines don't have to be perfect, they just have to be better than humans.

The machines reportedly don't do well with poor visibility and traction problems in snow, so I'm safe from autonomous vehicles for the forseeable future.

Without people, who will choose the color of the robots?

Sounds like you might like these folks.

Random number generators.

Any color-choosing algorithmn should be weighted toward (#997A8D) Mountbatten Pink.

I love discussions about technology and the future, but was disappointed in this podcast. It was 2 people fighting it out for title of most liberal, with no economic facts to support their theories. The guest himself stated several times that he is not an economist, and the host kept steering him to agree with Marxist ideals.

While there is an inherent problem with the way capitalism allows those with more means to reinvest their assets for more income; an unsustainable outcome of any system that involves any rate of return, a worse condition exists than inequality. That poor condition is to be purposeless.

The host incorrectly assumes that everyone is like her; driven to learn and to apply their knowledge in work that is useful to the community. While that might be true for some, most people would rather play video games, watch TV, or check their Twitter. We live in an entertainment society where even the most poor among us own cell phones and find the means to pass the time. Depression is on the rise not due to inequality, but due to lack of purpose and the lack of immediate consequences of failing to provide for oneself.

The poorest among us live healthier and more entertained than the richest of kings from any time prior to the last century.

While being prideful is not a good trait, the opposite condition of being pride-less is perhaps even more detrimental.

We need a sense of purpose and connection to our communities, we need rewards for achievement, and we need real consequences for failure.

The cost of most everything in the future is going to plummet, but we won't be any happier unless we figure out how to retain a sense of purpose. While depression might be imbalanced serotonin levels in the brain, the underlying issue is more complex than simple chemistry in the form of a pill.

Our increasing consumption of entertainment likely correlates to our increasing feeling of our work not being valued. Not only are we small cogs in a machine, our place as a cog in the machine is being replaced with other machines!