XPost: rec.arts.sf.written, rec.arts.sf.science   
   From: YourName@YourISP.com   
      
   In article , rex   
    wrote:   
   > "Your Name"  wrote in message   
   > news:240120140903107097%YourName@YourISP.com...   
   > > In article , David   
   > > Friedman  wrote:   
   > >> In article <220120141849207998%YourName@YourISP.com>,   
   > >>  Your Name  wrote:   
   > >> > >   
   > >> > > I once had map software on my laptop while I was entering St. Louis   
   > >> > > via   
   > >> > > a bridge across the Mississippi try to tell me to take a left turn   
   > >> > > from   
   > >> > > the divided interstate highway bridge a hundred feet up in the air   
   > >> > > onto   
   > >> > > the riverside jogging/bike path below.   
   > >> >   
   > >> > One example of NUMEROUS that prove self-driving cars simply aren't   
   > >> > going to happen any time soon.   
   > >>   
   > >> I don't think that follows. As best I can tell, the Google self-driving   
   > >> car doesn't rely on just GPS and maps. It has mechanisms for watching   
   > >> the actual road and traffic.   
   > >>   
   > >> You might as well argue that human driven cars aren't going to happen   
   > >> any time soon. They too rely on a combination of information sources,   
   > >> one of which is often the GPS.   
   > >   
   > > Human drivers (hopefully) also use intelligence, common sens, and an   
   > > ability to make decisions for themselves ...three things a computer   
   > > simply cannot currently have, no matter how complicated the programming   
   > > is.   
   >   
   > In fact a number of computer systems do have that capability.   
      
   Nope. No computer comes even close to having such things on the same   
   level as an average human being ... they aren't even close enough to an   
   extremely stupid baby.   
      
      
      
   > > Human drivers can also read road signs no matter where they are placed   
   > > (other than behind a tree!), whereas a computer will have difficulty   
   > > doing that in EVERY instance.   
   >   
   > It is in fact quite easy for a computer to do that better than a human can.   
      
   Only if ALL the road signs exist, are fully / mostly visible, located   
   in pretty much the same place, hasn't been stolen since yesterday,   
   etc., etc.   
      
      
      
   > > Then there are facts like many roads simply not having markings for the   
   > > computer to see, or having duplicate markings where the road has been   
   > > changed for some reason.   
   >   
   > But with those, the computer can use the database   
   > and knows how the road should be marked.   
      
   Again, a MASSIVE task to try and keep it updated. What's the point in   
   having a car that can drive itself, when you then have to relgate   
   millions of people to doing boring and pointless data entry.   
      
      
      
   > > The possibilities for something not thought of in the programming   
   > > are endless.   
   >   
   > And yet computers do some things much better than a human   
   > can ever do.   
      
   Some things, yes, but mostly extremely simple things and in many cases   
   only done faster, not necessarily better.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)