Dear Editor,
If the Town Clerk really wants what he said in his letter in SN of Jan 30, “The city is part of the global village and consequently connected to the rest of the world, which is progressing in the area of technology. Our national capital must not be left behind”, then he should be aware of the current technology. See for example http://diamandis.com/abundance-insider.
Autonomous cars are now making their way on the roads of more technological cities. Just summon one with your smartphone connected to an online transportation company. All you do is get in, the car drives you to your destination (while you read the newspaper), and returns to its headquarters or another job without having to park at your place. If you don’t like the idea of being driven by a machine, you can request a human taxi driver as usual.
What these autonomous cars used to require were consistently marked roadways and traffic signals, which we do not possess, because the city council or whoever is responsible for these things is only now trying to do a better job. But even that requirement is now becoming redundant, because cars that use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (IBM Watson, Google Brain and Deep Mind, etc) have now tested at far lower accident rates than human drivers.
But why remain on the ground? Entrepreneurs are now using drone technology to develop flying cars. All we would have to do (before the 20 year parking meter contract is up?) is to develop the regulations and choose the operators. The mere thought of our hire car and minibus drivers piloting these potential missiles above and around innocent citizens and their homes should be enough to send us to AI.
Yours faithfully,
Alfred Bhulai
