The dystopian future of mobility will be free-to-ride, self-driving cars operating as taxis where we have to pay to exit and are incentivized to pay to opt-out of ads.
Non-premium subscription users will be driven through less efficient routes and dirt roads to increase ad watchtime and reduce congestion for premium customers. If you don't tip the driverless car in advance, it may choose to eject you at any point, potentially leaving you even further from your destination than you were
I bet the more likely option is that it will force you to drive through a restaurant drive through whether you want to buy something there or not. Most people are gonna be like "I'm here and having to wait anyway, I may as well". I know it'd work on me if I wouldn't refuse out of the principle of it
That sounds like a maintenance nightmare. Owners maintain vehicles, renters have no incentive to, but people who feel trapped in a vehicle that requires an exit fee and treats them adversarially with ads will feel incentivized to vandalize the vehicle.
Honestly, the sort of future wouldn’t bother me where the unsustainable mode (cars) would have to use ads to help cover what are now negative externalities, and walking, biking, and transit would be the ad-free options. But of course it won’t be like that.
