XPost: rec.arts.sf.written, rec.arts.sf.science   
   From: rexjohns@nospam.com   
      
   "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.   
      
   > 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.   
      
   > 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   
   > chaged for somereason.   
      
   But with those, the computer can use the database   
   and knows how the road should be marked.   
      
   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.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)