Sort of. Your wording actually assumes down to its core that driving is inherently social, when in fact I think it may be only provisionally social. Driving currently “is social” in a few senses, But of course the important (and obvious) one is that it currently involves accounting for human-operated vehicles.
Alternatively, an autonomous vehicle operator in a homogenous network full of other autonomous operators has capabilities and characteristics that greatly simplify failure modes. Maybe even majority autonomous, partially heterogeneous? You can literally slow or stop the whole show to deal with a catastrophic event. It’s still “social” but probably much reduced from the scenario where you’ve got the full scope of human expressivity behind the wheel.
The REAL problem is how do we take our roads to the crossover point where those simplified network features become accessible.
> “This assumes our roads are used exclusively by autonomous vehicles”
I not only assume it, I say it out loud: “[fully autonomous, …] maybe even majority homogenous, partly heterogenous?”
> “When our roads are not used exclusively by motor vehicles to begin with.”
I’m not following what you’re saying here in the context of the earlier clause. If you mean not used exclusively by autonomous vehicles, yes, and that’s why I’m pointing out the provisional aspect.
You know, I could be snide, and say, “We’ve already invented that — it’s called a train.” :D
But I’ve thought the same, too. If every car on the road is robot-controlled then it changes the problem. Modulo failures, discrete algorithms should behave predictably towards each other, like the unix API philosophy.
It seems hard to get there, though. Even today it’s a PITA to maintain API boundaries in simple libraries, never mind make sure that the new Tesla v12.4 Full Self Driving For Real This Time doesn’t trigger edge cases in Volvo v7.7a Actually Real Self-Driving We Promise.
Can we make software that allows cars to behave as predictably as rail cars, but without the rails? Maybe, but I expect only on limited-access freeways. I’m sure these robot-driven cars will remain incompatible with common road uses cases like pedestrians, cyclists, and children chasing balls.
Alternatively, an autonomous vehicle operator in a homogenous network full of other autonomous operators has capabilities and characteristics that greatly simplify failure modes. Maybe even majority autonomous, partially heterogeneous? You can literally slow or stop the whole show to deal with a catastrophic event. It’s still “social” but probably much reduced from the scenario where you’ve got the full scope of human expressivity behind the wheel.
The REAL problem is how do we take our roads to the crossover point where those simplified network features become accessible.