Driverless Cars Ecosystem Up-Skilling and Re-Skilling Chauffeurs

Innovation becomes path-breaking when it gets dynamic. And for it to be dynamic you need to make it approachable and available to the masses. My quest has always been for a sea change that transforms human life. ‘The Driverless car’ is an idea that crept into my head during a late-night drive when I found my taxi driver dozing off. Ever since then, I with my team of passionate engineers have been working on the concept of Autonomous vehicles.

 In these unprecedented times of COVID 19 pandemic when people are skeptical of taking public transport or hiring a driver, Shared Autonomous Vehicles (SAV) are just the right solution we all need. Driverless cars as a form of shared mobility if accessible are sure to revolutionize urban transportation. A Cloud based artificial intelligence program that controls your vehicle along with many others under the supervision of an expert driver. 

While we review the possibilities of driver-less-ness on the road, the decisive question on unemployment and the economy simultaneously crops up. If you give it a panoramic view, driving as a profession has been in a state of degeneration since the last century. If we take a quick recap we will notice that by the 21st century almost every middle-class home owned a car or two of them. Self-reliant families drove themselves to places that led to the deep depression in the employment of drivers. As a result, their number was reduced. But in a short period, we all got into busy morning schedules and compelling early/late office shifts. In that context, a chauffeur-driven vehicle became just the right answer to our commutation.

 Today we leave our ever-enthralling vehicles at home to take public transport or shared car services to reach our workplaces. Though we would enjoy having a chauffeur owing to the heavy traffic and the trouble in finding parking spots, maintaining a chauffeur is indeed a luxury today. Though App-based shared services like Uber, Lyft, OLA help us here, often we are forced to put up with unpleasant drivers, which could spoil our day. Here SAV would be of great help because cars controlled by AI won't get tired, won't be hungry, and won't give rude responses. 

Having said all that, it is an undeniable fact that Indian roads and traffic at most times demand human expertise. The intelligent program is capable of tackling every unprecedented on road situation. Under highly precarious traffic entanglements the situation will be diverted to expert drivers residing at our contact centers, who in turn will guide the vehicle out. Just like a call center executive who connects to their manager when she cannot solve our problem.   

SAV Contact Center Employee Helping the Driving Ai to help one of the cars out of a complex traffic situation

SAV, as I had earlier mentioned not only revolutionizes road transport but also elevates the social status of drivers. With the advent of SAV, “the driver” will get a new social and economic makeover in terms of social standard and pay scale.

SAV offers drivers a shift from back-breaking to and fro rides and quarrelsome pays. In contrast to the popular skepticism, SAV will lead us to safer roads, stress-free rides, and better employment opportunities. Driving without a driver is a dream for some and also a nightmare for a few. But as intimidating as it sounds we should also be reminded that artificial intelligence is not new in automobiles. Programs like Auto Parking and Advanced Driver- Assistance System (ADAS) have started to appear in our cars. Through a safe human-machine interface, they make it easier for the driver and keep roads safer. Similarly, AI bots in driving can help humans lead an easier and safer life while they are on the roads. A gradual transformation of different stages from human-driven to machine-driven cars would enable the people to have confidence in the system.

As the legend says ‘AI is going to be the next electricity’. This will improve our lives and transform job opportunities to an outstanding level.