Automation has the ability to change our lives for the better. Activities that can be dangerous or long could be done with autonomous machines instead of human influence. These kinds of automata, such as self-driving cars, drone deliveries, and smart assistants, provide significant utility, but are they worth the risk?
Autonomous vehicles can enable a driverless riding experience from point A to point B. Giving a ride to people who can’t drive has tremendous benefits, but this assumes the technology is where it should be. The Victoria Transport Policy Institute states, “Considerable progress is needed before autonomous vehicles can operate reliably in mixed urban traffic, heavy rain and snow, unpaved and unmapped roads, and where wireless access is unreliable.”
They allow passengers to focus on other activities that might be pressing, such as work or sleep. Autonomous vehicles, however, can struggle to make split-second decisions that a human driver can. Passengers lose out on the “safety net” of a backup driver if the car is fully automatic. It’s hard to say at the current time if self-driving vehicles are strictly better than human drivers, but for the time being, both have their shortcomings.
Robot deliveries have been talked about for around a decade. Amazon Prime Air promises to deliver packages under 5 pounds to customers within 30 minutes using their drones. It’s a confident statement, but the machines will also have to overcome certain challenges. Issues with the weather, power lines, battery life, and thieves must be addressed before drone delivery can be reliable.
There are also ground delivery systems being built. Amazon and FedEx are designing ground robots that deliver packages without the need of a human. It appears to be more reliable than the drone delivery, But they will still have to overcome the same obstacles.
Smart assistants such as Alexa and Google Home provide a hands-free way to perform tasks such as looking up information on the internet and setting timers. These tasks provide ease of use but not without drawbacks. As soon as microphones are regularly put into people’s lives, more companies will want that data to feed relevant ads to their consumers. Is the convenience worth this breach of privacy?
Voice recognition software is used in some contexts for security purposes. A person’s voice could be compromised, mitigating the person’s voice of security value. If the person’s voice was already used for security purposes, it could create many problems in the future.
Automata can allow for a much easier way of life, but the costs of such technology nowadays are questionable. Whether it’s inconsistent results or a breach of privacy, people should be careful with these devices.
References:
Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Prime-Air/b?node=8037720011.
Autonomous Vehicle Implementation Predictions - Vtpi.org. https://vtpi.org/avip.pdf.
“The Risks of Voice Technology - AFERM - Association for Federal Enterprise Risk Management.” AFERM, 2 Oct. 2017, https://www.aferm.org/erm_feed/the-risks-of-voice-technology/.
