It doesn’t even have glowing red headlights.
If this strange and slightly creepy video is any indication, silent cars will soon be driving around the streets of town just like people. We mean that they will be searching for food and then heading to the showers to get ready for their evening. Let’s hope they don’t display less admirable traits such as listening to the glass-shaking at stoplights or driving slowly in the fast lane.
We wouldn’t be too concerned about the future. It’s one thing to create autonomous cars, but it’s quite another to get them to work in our random world. The new BMW iX This video shows how an electric SUV can be at the forefront in vehicle technology. The video shows what could be a typical shopping trip to the mall. However, the driver does not park the Bimmer. The Bimmer also doesn’t park.
Instead, it drives to an automatic charger, where a plug-equipped robot arm charges the iX. It then drives to an automated charger where a plug-equipped robotic arm charges the iX. We don’t know how much time it remains there, but it eventually heads to a car washing station that is apparently in the middle of a garage. Although the brushes spin, we don’t see the car actually pass through the wash. The shoppers then return to the garage to pick up the car, despite the fact that it is behind them. The iX is now in a better position and has a 64 percent charge. All this while humans were buying goods. We’ll live in a more convenient world in the future.
However, don’t let your expectations get too high. The video description states that this video was taken in a specific location, with extra sensors and equipment to assist the BMW. This is a proof of concept exercise and does not address the biggest problem with autonomous systems, randomness. How about autonomous cars that drive around the garage? Are there any teens trying to deliberately confuse the car? These are just a few scenarios you need to be aware of before this tech becomes mainstream.
Then there is the problem of machines becoming self-aware and ultimately destroying humanity. This argument is for another day.