“LOOK MA, NO HANDS!”
Beware, drivers who actually use a steering wheel. Tesla has just released software that will drive your car for you, and a video of the crazy yet somehow effective technology in action has hit the web. This driver from Jalopnik tried it himself, and was understandably sweat-drippingly nervous as his car drove through traffic and even switched lanes to get around a slow driver like a champion — robot.
Provided you have one of Elon Musk’s Tesla’s model S vehicles, you can install the new software that utilizes several already-built-in cameras and sensors to track positioning, change speed and course — all while narrowly avoiding traffic. Nearby cars are displayed on the enormous digital instrument panel console to the right of the drivers seat, and a loud warning beep sounds the second your extremely low sense of trust for Musk & co. fledgling technology has you jamming on the breaks.
Elon Musk has historically been a critic of AI technologies, but has taken a big step in overcoming his own doubts — with his own company, as per usual. “People should see the car actually improve probably with each passing week,” said Musk, adding that future tweaks will be made based on data collected from vehicles using the software. No matter what the most powerful man in tech says, though, we sense a growing amount of skepticism over autonomous technology as it trickles out onto the streets.
