I see the number of smart brains dedicated to create autonomous vehicles. The biggest arguments I hear behind the billions spent in this development that it will supposidly make travel safer once all vehicles are autonomous.
Meanwhile the Earth is on fire. People are getting poorer which means it’s a lot more difficult to afford cars. Even if these vehicles are going to be electric some days a lot of current development is done on regular gasoline cars. Ford, GM and other automotive makers are starting to sell the dream that eventually one day you are going to need a self driving car and won’t have a choice on the matter. On a 2019 interview, John Rich,the operations chief of Ford Autonomous Vehicles, described that the
“thing that worries (him) the least in this world is decreasing demand for cars,” because “we will exhaust and crush a car every four years in this business.” (John Rich, Ford, 2019)
But can he be wrong ?
A new generation of North American don’t own a car or have even have a driving license. In 2017 in the US, only 25% of 16 years old had their driving license, a significant drop from nearly half in 1983. They simply don’t see the use of a car as a necessity.
At 27 years old, I also have never owned a car and have relied on public transportation all my life to get around. I have lived…
