Part 28 - Brave new world

Last week I went to Crown Casino in Perth for lunch, not because I am a gambler, but because they have cheap lunch deals.
However we dipped out as that was only Monday to Thursday and we chose to go on Friday so I was right on form as usual, but that's another story.

While I was waiting for my colleagues to pay for lunch ( I had already paid for mine in case you were wondering) I just stood there and looked around at this huge gaming area with flashing lights, bells and music.
One thing struck me immediately, apart from the lack of smiles on peoples faces, and that was the lack of staff.

Not that I'm saying that there aren't enough staff, just that everything that can be, is automated.

All the pokies are computerised, the money is handled by the machine, or added to a card by a machine with no human intervention. Many of the people in front of the machines look like machines as well with blank stares and push the button, wait, stare, push the button. Repeat.

There is even an automated roulette type wheel and the players have linked screens where they place their bets. The machine voice says no more bets then the wheel begins to spin all on its own, stops and pays out to the screen of anyone lucky enough to win.

Driving back from there I notice a new fixed speed camera on the side of the road. No longer police standing there with a radar but fixed cameras at intersections at regular intervals. The first thing you know these days when you've done something wrong is when you get the bill in the mail.

I used to be a great supporter of speed camera, but now that there are so many of them it's far easy to be penalised when you do make a legitimate mistake. We are human and if you try really hard to do the right thing you still make the odd mistake, and if there is  camera there when you do, it's another fine. I try not to make mistakes, but I am Human, no matter how much my wife begs to differ.
Roll on automated vehicles.

In the same vein this whole concept is to be extended, where the speed camera comes to you with an automated police motorcycle cruising the streets looking for offenders and issuing on the spot fines (literally) via apps or email.

At what point do we reach the limits of human concentration? We all know that there are very bad drivers out there that shouldn't be allowed on the road but at what point does an average person start to lose their license because they physically and mentally can't keep up the concentration 100% of the time. I know we should but I also know that we can't.

This could actually become a selling point when autonomous vehicles hit big time, and can also be used by government as a migration tool, but in the interim it is going to cause pain.

Add to that the new Crusin' parking inspectors that just drive by and the computer records the number plates of all vehicles it passes and ties it to a GPS system. This is recorded and on the next pass if the car is till there and has exceeded its limit an automated fine is produced.

So, whats the point of, well, pointing out all of the automation?

Don't get me wrong, I think a lot of it is great, but we do have the risk of people becoming more insular, with social interaction being reduced to the point that you can avoid human contact virtually altogether.
Virtual reality will make that even more of an issue.

On another note, Uber has started running autonomous cars in San Francisco.
Not everyone is happy.

Uber has not applied for a license and it looks like this may come to trading blows in court.

Merry Christmas all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Part 27 - Actually waking up in the morning means the day's not a complete loss.

It's been a while since I made a blog entry, not because I didn't want to, but because there hasn't been a lot of news.

Most manufacturers have made their announcements, published their road maps and now have gone quiet while getting on with the job of making it work.

The major hurdle these days seems to be government dragging heir feet and not addressing the issues that will have a dramatic effect on society.

I wrote an open letter to that effect and have held off publishing it as I have sent requests to both state and Federal (Australian) governments requesting information of what they are intending to do.

After a month I have had no response.

However, as is the way of life when you take a stand, something comes long to make you look faintly ridiculous, or prophetic, depending on your outlook. I'll go with prophetic.

The (Australian) National Transport Commission has been in place since 2003 and has had a remit to look at transport across the country. But as time goes on, things change.
Recently their focus has been updated. and this is a quote from their website.

Automated vehicles offer the possibility of fundamentally changing transport and society by improving road safety, freight productivity and by reducing road congestion.
However, current regulations do not adequately support automated road vehicles. In November 2016, Australian transports ministers agreed to a phased reform program so that conditionally automated vehicles can operate safely and legally on our roads before 2020, and highly and fully automated vehicles from 2020.
To provide certainty on the use of existing technology, transport ministers reaffirmed the existing policy position that the human driver remains in full legal control of a vehicle that is partially or conditionally automated, unless or until a new position is developed and agreed. These recommendations and policy positions are set out in the NTC policy paper – Regulatory reforms for automated road vehicles.

The policy paper starts off with a realistic statement that gives me hope that this is a step in the right direction.

However, current regulations do not adequately support automated road vehicles and there is uncertainty about how and when current polices and regulations will be adapted. There is also a risk that, without a national and coordinated response to automated vehicle reform, Australia’s complex regulatory framework will result in inconsistent regulation of automated vehicles across states and territories. In this policy paper, the National Transport Commission (NTC) recommends that the Commonwealth and state and territory governments support on-road trials, remove unnecessary legal barriers, and provide for the safe operation of automated vehicles. 

So it seems, I am pleased to say, that I have been pre-empted in trying to get governments involved.
As this technology will be appearing on the road within the next few years it needs to be addressed urgently and this is a good start with a National focus.

Apple has finally announced their intention of development in the field of autonomous vehicles with a letter to the (US) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) .

Although apple does refer to the sharing of crash data between manufacturers, that does seem to be at odds with their usual closed eco-system. Hopefully they will help with standardisation not proprietary systems.

In the US it's anyones guess what will happen once Trump gets into the White House.
His opposition to automation stealing jobs doesn't bode well for automated vehicles as they will replace many driving jobs.
If that's the case then the US may well slip behind the rest of the world in leading edge technologies, ironically leaving China to grab the lead.

There has been a huge amount of capital spent in developing technology to replace people and I don't think that's going to change back anytime soon. Amazons automated warehouse being a case in point.

No matter what your told, it's not just the US. Watch this video about automation in China.

This has to be the ultimate bridge builder to date. Note how fast it happens (even though the video has been sped up) and how few people are involved.

The clock doesn't get turned back just because you want to...