NOTE: THIS ASSIGNEMENT WILL BE TURNED IN USING TURNITIN. VIEW ATTACHED FILES FOR TOPIC. (DRIVERLESS VEHICLES) Your report should be about 7-10 pages in length (not including title and reference page).

M4A1: Team Project

Outline

Executive Summary (Clearly delineate your Thesis Statement)

Self-driving vehicles have many obstacles and barriers to overcome to obtain full level 5 autonomy, but benefits far outweigh the risks.

Introduction (Summary & Background)

The pursuit of creating an autonomous vehicle has been around almost as long as cars themselves. Prototypes and designs have been made since 1925. The first designs were merely modified radio controlled production models compared to today's vehicles with high tech sensors and machine learning technology. The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) defines 6 levels of autonomous driving. These levels range from 0, defined as manual or no driving automation, to 5, or fully automated with no driver controls required (Glon & Edelstein, 2020). Tesla’s Autopilot is currently the highest level autonomy at 2 which is autonomous, but requires the driver to remain attentive and immediately take control if required. Level 3 and above can be considered driverless if certain conditions are met. The U.S. Department of Transportation adopted these same standards in 2017. The many technological and legal hurdles to obtain full level 5 autonomy include sensors and associated components, improved artificial intelligence, regulations, liability concerns, data usage, and safety standards some of which are outdated and hamper full autonomy (Giarratana, 2018). Benefits of driverless cars include reduced traffic deaths, reduction in vehicle emissions, eliminating traffic waves, and reducing travel time (Marr, 2020).

Key Societal Impacts

- How will the selected technology provide benefit?
  - Expound on benefits listed in the introduction
- How might the selected technology produce harm?
  - Safety risks. False sense of security, cyber attacks/hacking,
- Will the technology be "gendered"?
  - As transportation is relatively universal, no gendering
- What might be malfunction risks?
  - Concerns for safety of drivers and pedestrians.
- How might the technology introduce cause and effect relationships?
  - Regulations will need to be evaluated. Some outdated regulations preclude the use of full autonomy. New regulations will be needed.
- What criteria will be used to evaluate the successes or failures of the technology?
  - Success is largely represented by safety, instead of driving distance, etc.
- What political considerations exist?
  - Political leaders fear jobs lost due to autonomous vehicles
- Discuss pros and cons of the new technology versus refining an existing technology.
  - Pros: Opens up transportation to those otherwise unable to drive: Medical reasons, Age.
  - Cons: Since it is a new technology, it takes significantly more resources and R&D than refining existing.
- How might one find a receptive market?
  - Number of drivers per capita is much higher than in past decades
- Discuss if the technology applies to science.
  - Heavily influenced by AI science and processing
- How will the technology impact the environment--short term and long term? Consequences?
  - Potential programming for the most efficient route. AIs will drive conservatively as to minimize fuel waste
  - Will improve the transportation industry’s efficiency and greatly reduce the need of millions of drivers.
- Discuss ethical considerations.
  - Software must be programmed to prioritize lives and property
  - Liability concerns (owner/operator or car manufacture)
- Discuss occupations generated and potential jobs lost.
  - Generates maintenance, programming, etc. Potentially replaces Taxis, Uber, Lyft, etc.

Schedule

Rough draft shell will be created by November 27 (Jeremy)

Input for all sections with references completed by all team members added to rough draft by December 4. Final edits will be made December 5.

Conclusion

Driverless vehicles, once seen as a possibility in a science fiction film, are currently in development, and are very much a reality in the present day. A long-imagined, but nonetheless new technology, the list of concerns for such a technology are boundless, from the cases of liability and safety to the ethics of priority of life and property necessary for a self-driving artificial intelligence. While these hurdles are significant, the societal changes brought about by a successful utilization of this technology could impact many aspects of society, from economic standpoints to environmental changes, and when the technology is made more common across the driving population, the combined effects will have lasting benefits on the country.

References

Giarratana, C. (2018, October 11). Driverless Cars: What Are The Biggest Obstacles For The Road? » Traffic Safety Resource Center. Traffic Safety Store. Retrieved November 15, 2021, from https://www.trafficsafetystore.com/blog/driverless-cars-what-are-the-biggest-obstacles-for-the-road/

Glon, R., & Edelstein, S. (2020, July 31). History of Self-Driving Cars Milestones. Digital Trends. Retrieved November 15, 2021, from https://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/history-of-self-driving-cars-milestones/

Marr, B. (2020, July 17). 5 Ways Self-Driving Cars Could Make Our World (And Our Lives) Better. Forbes. Retrieved November 15, 2021, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2020/07/17/5-ways-self-driving-cars-could-make-our-world-and-our-lives-better/

Shladover, S. E., & Higgins, N. (2021, September 25). 'Self-Driving' Cars Begin to Emerge from a Cloud of Hype. Scientific American. Retrieved November 21, 2021, from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/self-driving-cars-begin-to-emerge-from-a-cloud-of-hype/