This is like asking if the automatic doors at the supermarket can own themselves.
Could driverless cars own themselves?
41–50 of 65 posts
Re: Could driverless cars own themselves?
#42This reads like the golem collective in Discworld.
Re: Could driverless cars own themselves?
#43Now it's getting spooky. What's next, self-aware computers? With their own impulse for self-preservation? Oh noes!
The article very explicitly states that this is not about self aware cars. Merely about cars which are programmed to make enough money to pay for their own gas/electricity, repairs and insurance. And probably repay cost of being built to its manufacturer too.
Re: Could driverless cars own themselves?
#44Who's gonna sue me if I spray-paint a dick on the windshield?
Re: Could driverless cars own themselves?
#45This is a cool concept for lots of things, maybe even big things like companies and utilities. A for-profit entity that operates just like a normal one, but is programmed to not to simply maximize profits but to maximize social good. It would work well on things that don't require too much human thinking to run (just balancing equations and running equipment), but are normally hindered by self-interest.
I think it can be convincingly argued that profit maximizing is social good maximizing, especially in technology. See: every technology ever :)
And that's why open source is profit maximizing and all good programming languages are for-profit, as well as the internet itself?
Re: Could driverless cars own themselves?
#46How about an ownerless house that keeps its own rent money? An ownerless McDonald's franchise? Ownership is not just about money. Driverless cars don't really change anything about the concept of ownership. If you think driverless taxis are such a great idea and you want them to be operated in a non-greedy way, start a non-profit, or start a corporation and make it public so that anyone who wants can invest and share…
ownerless house that keeps its own rent money
The ultimate absentee landlord?
Re: Could driverless cars own themselves?
#47The article mentions that the cars could hire programmers to improve them. Why not also let them hire drivers - that way there would be no need to wait for the technology of driverless cars to become feasible.
Re: Could driverless cars own themselves?
#48The biggest problem with driverless cars will not be the safety technology but the people controlling them.
It's not hard to imagine a scenario where most regular cars have been outlawed or restricted in favour of safer driverless ones and bus services are replaced by fleets of self driving cars. It wouldn't be long before restrictions are be placed on the journeys for the sake of profit.
Even if the self driving cars were to stay in an individuals possession I can imagine restrictions being placed by the manufacturers or insurance companies, almost like a drm for cars.
Re: Could driverless cars own themselves?
#49I would suggest that current trust laws, where legal fictions like companies can be trustees, could be a foundation for creating a programmatic trust deed for cars been trustees.
The trustee (car) is given legal title to the trust property (car, software, service contracts), by the settlor (manufacturer company), but is obligated to act for the good of the beneficiaries, humans.
Re: Could driverless cars own themselves?
#50The article mentions that the cars could hire programmers to improve them. Why not also let them hire drivers - that way there would be no need to wait for the technology of driverless cars to become feasible.
Yes, absolutely everything in the article is possible without driverless cars.
In fact most of it is being done currently, except the owner-less bit.
It seems a common mind screw up.
People think when technology X is released all these other advanced technologies will come with it.
Voice recognition is an obvious example.
Just because a computer can understand the words perfectly, it still has no idea what you are saying.
For it to do that it'd have to be close to passing the Turing test.
This fallacy should have a name if it doesn't already.