When automobiles first were arriving on the scene 100+ years ago, people were scared of them as well!
Lack of understanding often (if not usually
) is responsible for what appears as fear....but is realistically as much a lack of trust.
Anyone who has experienced the "blue screen of death" or other unexplained/unexplainable computer adventure will at the least be approaching the AIV world with some apprehension, if not complete lack of faith....and healthy skepticism.
The problem for me is that the complexity of the entire required network/infrastructure is probably beyond our collective ability to manage seamlessly....and every negative event that occurs will have a disproportionate impact on what trust has been generated.
Back in the day when the computer world was mostly IBM-based, that world was run by the stereotypical short-sleeved white shirted guy with a pocket protector, brush-cut, and horn-rimmed glasses. They knew EVERYTHING.....and could fix everything. End-to-end control is a rare situation these days in my experience.
As IT exploded, there are no longer folks who do know it all and can fix everything....and the almost infinite combinations of apps and technologies virtually guarantees that there will be unforeseen errors and incompatibilities that create accidental events. The fact that this will likely still be statistically a great improvement in overall safety will in no way diminish the angst when a five car pile-up kills two complete families simply because of a programming glitch.....or an accessory being installed improperly....or some other maintenance item being screwed up because of the training lag or deficit.
Losing a loved one to a drunk driver will not be any less devastating than losing one due to a programming error....but the latter in fact, might be harder to rationalise.
The legalities of all this are mind-boggling and mind-numbing. I could see insurance rates going through the roof; though damage costs may drop, the cost of litigation to try and prove culpability may get silly.
As a possible parallel, air travel has never been safer.....but there is an alarming trend in accidents that have been traced to an ever increasing reliance on fly-by-wire technologies that appears to be eroding basic flying skills. More time gets spent learning to manage and operate the ever more sophisticated systems and less on basic flying skills.
One old-timer opined that if Sully were a thirty-something pilot, that Hudson River event would probably have been catastrophic.
Regardless, if I understand correctly the dependence of this on the installed availability/coverage of 5G technology, it probably won't happen all that quickly up here if a recent report that I read is accurate.
We are still a ways from that .
