Imagine getting into your car and it automatically takes you where you want to go without you even having to tell it.
Though it may feel Jetson-like, that futuristic reality is coming, says billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX.
A Twitter user suggested to Musk that he would love to be able to get in his car and tell it where to drive him. Musk’s response was, “it won’t even need to ask you most of the time.”
When the user asked how the car would know where you need to go, another suggested that if you are going to your car at the same time you go to work every day, the car’s operating system would eventually learn your schedule. Musk agreed. “Yeah, don’t exactly need to be Sherlock Holmes.”
All Tesla vehicles are built with the hardware necessary for full self-driving capability, including eight cameras and a computer that sees and hears in all directions.
“Together, this system provides a view of the world that a driver alone cannot access, seeing in every direction simultaneously, and on wavelengths that go far beyond the human senses,” Tesla says on its website.
Your car will be able to listen to and respond to directional commands, but will also have access to your calendar. If you do not tell your car where to drive you, then your Tesla will check your calendar and take you where you are scheduled to be. If there is nothing scheduled, your Tesla will take you home.
Cars sold to consumers are not currently autonomous, however, because the hardware needs software to operate it. Tesla’s distribution of the required software is pending regulatory approval.
Though this particular application of machine learning may sound harmless enough — convenient, even — Musk is also a loud voice for the negative potential of artificial intelligence run amok.
“What’s going to happen is robots will be able to do everything better than us. … I mean all of us,” says Musk, speaking to the National Governors Association in July. “Yeah, I am not sure exactly what to do about this. This is really the scariest problem to me, I will tell you.”
See also:
Elon Musk: ‘Robots will be able to do everything better than us’
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Source: Tech CNBC
Elon Musk: Your future Tesla will drive you where you want to go without you even having to tell it