- Improved road safety: Self-driving cars can reduce accidents by up to 90%, as major causes of accidents, including drunk or distracted driving, will not be factors with self-driving cars.
- Increased productivity: With autonomous vehicles handling the driving, commuters, and businesses can utilize travel time more efficiently. Passengers can work, relax, or engage in other activities during their journeys, leading to increased productivity.
- Cost savings: Autonomous vehicles can help save society approximately $800 billion each year, as the reduction in car crash-related costs, reduced strain on the healthcare system, more efficient transportation, better fuel savings, and other factors contribute to cost savings.
- Improved accessibility: Those with a disability or the elderly would be able to get into a self-driving car without putting themselves or others at risk. Cities with limited public transit coverage would also benefit from self-driving cars, as they can easily reach areas where infrastructure is lacking.
- Environmental benefits: Autonomous cars will likely be electric rather than utilizing internal combustion engines. Furthermore, the consistent speeds self-driving cars will be traveling will reduce constant braking and fuel consumption, leading to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and the impact on sustainability.
- Job loss: The rise of self-driving cars could lead to job losses in sectors that rely on driving, such as trucking and taxi services.
- Legal and ethical dilemmas: Autonomous vehicles face moral decisions in real-time, such as determining the priority between occupants vs. pedestrians during unavoidable accidents. In addition, determining liability in the event of an autonomous vehicle accident is complex, and corresponding legal issues still need to be addressed.
- Machine error: Machine error must be taken into account, as self-driving cars can sometimes struggle to handle weird or complex driving situations, including unexpected obstacles, narrow, convoluted streets, or challenging weather conditions.
- Cost: Autonomous vehicles are still more expensive than non-automated cars, and the cost of maintenance and repair may also be higher.
- Privacy and security: Autonomous vehicles are equipped with sensors that collect data on driving habits, patterns, and behaviors, which could be used for malicious purposes if not properly secured.
In conclusion, AI-powered autonomous vehicles have the potential to bring significant benefits to society and the economy, but there are also potential drawbacks that need to be addressed. It is important to weigh the pros and cons of this technology and address its challenges to ensure that it is implemented safely and responsibly.
