The speaker provides an experiential exploration of riding in Google's self-driving car in San Francisco. They describe the initial, shocking experience of navigating intersections without a human driver and explain how quickly these autonomous vehicles become part of the city's landscape, highlighting the operational expansions in places like Los Angeles and Arizona. The video also covers logistical details, such as using an app to operate the vehicle, the avoidance of tipping, and the presence of surveillance cameras for safety.

In addition to personal anecdotes, the speaker discusses the broader implications of autonomous vehicles (AVs), like the potential loss of millions of jobs due to advanced technologies in these cars and the ongoing regulatory and ethical challenges, especially with incidents like Uber's fatal crash in 2018. Other autonomous initiatives, such as those by GM's Cruise and China's Baidu, are also mentioned, illustrating both the competitive pace and technological complexities.

Main takeaways from the video:

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Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. autonomous [ɔːˈtɒnəməs] - (adjective) - Having the freedom to govern itself, independently functioning or operating without human intervention. - Synonyms: (self-governing, independent, self-sufficient)

...millions of jobs will be lost to AVS that's autonomous vehicles...

2. vandalizing [ˈvændəˌlaɪzɪŋ] - (verb) - Deliberately destroying or damaging property. - Synonyms: (destroying, wrecking, defacing)

...like people vandalizing its cars or putting cones in front of them...

3. feasibly [ˈfiːzəbli] - (adverb) - Capable of being done or accomplished practically. - Synonyms: (practically, realistically, possibly)

...it's trying to decide when it can actually feasibly do that...

4. eloquent [ˈɛləkwənt] - (adjective) - Fluent or persuasive in speaking or writing, clearly expressing something. - Synonyms: (articulate, expressive, persuasive)

...you see how eloquently it navigates you see all the data it has...

5. disrupt [dɪsˈrʌpt] - (verb) - Interrupt (an event, activity, or process) by causing disturbance or problems. - Synonyms: (disturb, interrupt, interfere)

...spent over a billion dollars in developing self-driving technology aiming to disrupt the ride sharing industry...

6. liable [ˈlaɪəbl] - (adjective) - Legally responsible for something. - Synonyms: (accountable, responsible, answerable)

...who is liable when a self-driving car crashes into someone...

7. negligent [ˈnɛɡlɪdʒənt] - (adjective) - Failing to take proper care in doing something, irresponsible. - Synonyms: (careless, inattentive, remiss)

...the driver was ultimately charged with negligent homicide...

8. reprimanded [ˈrɛprɪˌmændɪd] - (verb) - To reprimand someone is to give them a formal warning, express disapproval or criticism. - Synonyms: (rebuked, scolded, admonished)

...kind of reminds me of like being reprimanded by a teacher...

9. navigate [ˈnævəˌɡeɪt] - (verb) - To plan and direct the course of a journey or action, especially in a skillful way. - Synonyms: (steer, pilot, guide)

...it's really impressive that it can even navigate a very narrow two-way street...

10. dystopian [dɪsˈtoʊpiən] - (adjective) - Relating to or denoting an imagined state or society where there is great suffering or injustice. - Synonyms: (apocalyptic, nightmarish, grim)

...it's actually quite dystopian to see these driving cars without humans inside them...

The Future of Self-Driving Cars and Society Impact

I'm sitting in the back of Google's self-driving car in San Francisco. This is not coming soon it's actually here with the app just opening up to the public. My favorite feature on this new self-driving car around San Francisco is and it's everywhere around San Francisco impossible to go 5 minutes in this city without seeing one. It's also being used in Los Angeles and Arizona too. The best part you don't need to tip.

Companies have poured billions of dollars to get to this moment millions of jobs will be lost to AVS that's autonomous vehicles. All right let's see let's go through this intersection but I have so many questions I need answers to. Uber is suspending its self-driving car operations. A self-driving car being pulled over by police in San Francisco whmo driverless car clipped a bicyclist another crash involving weo who is liable when a self-driving car crashes into someone can these cars be hacked and what happened in a Chinese City where these cars have already become the norm.

There have been reports about people actually taking Whos late at night and having sex in the vehicles because there is no human so anything can go right that's probably not a good idea because there are cameras everywhere in this vehicle. Even when you call support the first thing they're going to do is look at you and see you in real time. So can you see us right now. We have camera situated cross the vehicle download the weo app and it's just like ordering an Uber except it's not so I can already see it it has my initials on it.

Wow it even stops for me if this was a human driver I could have just said hey it's me and gotten in but it's not that smart so the only way to actually open the door is actually on the app. All right so now I'm going to hit unlock and it also says the car will only wait up to a couple minutes and then there's a timer so let's get in. Let's test this out. Just calling because I received the notification from the vehicle I'm just checking is everything all right yeah everything is fine my friend was just getting in the car and we're ready to start all good.

Thank you for confirming that um if there's nothing else are you in San Francisco the call has been routed to a satellite one of weo satellite offices oh I see so can you see us right now yeah we have camera situated across the vehicle just to make sure that we have a good view of the Riders thank you so much have a great day I'm going to hit start ride.

Oh my God this is so crazy we just pulled into oncoming traffic and there's no human in the seat and it's like crazy my brain is going crazy right now this is absolutely insane and on top of all that they play ambient music right when you get in maybe to calm you down but it's kind of working those first few minutes of riding as a passenger without a driver is crazy it feels actually terrifying we're going into the center of the intersection without a human and never in your life have you done something like this your brain is telling you don't do this.

But after probably five or at most 10 minutes the opposite has occurred with me I actually feel like I really trust this thing maybe even more than a human driver which is crazy to say but that's kind of what's happening I mean you see how eloquently it it navigates you see all the data it has and you kind of get really comfortable riding in this and you can kind of start to see how quickly self-driving cars have the potential to take over the world no way wow you know you would think it would go kind of slow and precautious but it actually drives like a human driver which is good.

You don't want it to be too slow or timid you got to kind of be a little bit bold when you drive otherwise that could cause disturbances or accidents and at all times you can see whatever is within a perimeter of you way in front way to the left like it's actually fascinating that it can know how many cars are to the left look at this car it's stuck in the middle of the intersection but that doesn't stop us from going we even maneuvered around it a little bit it's also super interesting so you know how sometimes you're sitting at a red light and you're getting a little impatient so you ease your foot off the brake just a little bit before it goes green.

This car does that and There's no practical reason for it to do that but my guess is it's doing that to mimic human behavior whether you're driving or sitting in the passenger seat that's what we do as humans the experience is meant to feel like you're with a human oh it knows it needs to go to the right lane so it's trying to decide when it can actually feasibly do that seems a bit stressed so you see that it's like we need to go to the right wow this is crazy we're not even fully in the lane because the bus was like kind of coming into our lane so we kind of maneuvered out without hitting that guy it's it's actually really fascinating this thing is extremely smart.

Weo has huge Ambitions it's expanding fast with more than 700 cars on the road and 300 of them are here in San Francisco. This is one of the many parking lots where Whos will come to charge and what's really cool is that they know to charge themselves if their battery is low they just stop what they're doing head over to a charging station and come and charge up. Weo is now testing out Vans known as Zer which is more spacious and could help people get around one day but it also still faces a ton of challenges like people vandalizing its cars or putting cones in front of them and around them just to mess with the vehicles and prevent them from doing their job.

Google is not the only company in this space see Uber once saw autonomous vehicles as the future of Transportation they spent over a billion dollars in developing self-driving technology aiming to disrupt the ride sharing industry and the goal was clear replace human drivers with AI.

In 2018 an Uber autonomous vehicle struck and killed a pedestrian in Arizona a self-driving car hitting and killing a woman it is a first right here on our Valley Street that brought the challenges and risks into Focus see the crash involved a Volvo SUV that had Uber's self-driving system there was a human safety driver behind the wheel but they weren't paying close attention to the road and The Pedestrian died the driver was ultimately charged with negligent homicide and would even be given jail time in 2021.

Uber sold itself self-driving division to Aurora for a crazy $4 billion. Today Uber still has an interest in autonomous vehicles but it's taking a more cautious approach and then there's Cruz Cruz is a self-driving car company that was founded in 2013 but then acquired by GM in 2016 for a reported 1 billion doll the company's valuation is in the billions now and Cruz has made huge strides in Aon vehicle technology but it's also faced challenges including a suspension of operations in October 2023 after its cars got into too many accidents.

Crews recently got to resume Public Road testing so when you do something like take off your seat belt in the middle of the ride a voice comes on and says hey put on your seat Bel this is for your safety and if not we may call for a human to come and check in on you and see what's going on and it's kind of reminds me of like being reprimanded by a teacher like hey if you don't follow follow the rules the principle is going to come all right.

But how does this actually work from a technology standpoint self-driving cars use sensors cameras and smart software to drive themselves on road see cameras see Lanes traffic lights and other cars while radar measures distances and finds things in the way the software takes all this info and decides how to steer speed up and slow down just like a good human driver would.

These cars also connect to the internet and use GPS to find their way this helps them get real-time traffic news know about road conditions and even talk to other cars or traffic signals see being online helps them make better decisions and work more efficiently so there's a fir truck or an ambulance and in emergencies they can even react to signals or ambulances or police cars that move out of the way or stop safely.

All these features make self-driving cars smarter and better at handling the changes on the road we had a fir truck coming by and it just pulled over very eloquently and said hey we got to yield to this emergency vehicle okay so it says finding a spot to pull over.

Governments around the world are trying to figure out the best rules for these special cars and one big question is who is responsible if a self-driving car crashes is it the car company is it the software makers or the person who owns the car the person who was sitting in that Uber self-driving car was supposed to be monitoring but what happens when there is no human in the car.

It's really impressive that it can even navigate a very narrow two-way street where it's very difficult for two cars to be on the same street so it doesn't always technically follow the rules exactly like it will go onto another Lane but if you think about it so do humans so that's probably a good thing.

In the US regulations on self-driving cars are overseen by nhtsa at the federal level it gives guidelines for automated Driving Systems and they focus on ensuring safety for these vehicles but these regulations are still developing and States also have their own set of rules too.

It's really fascinating the vision it has like you see the things that it can see up ahead or on the left or right and it's like how can the cameras detect that there's a person so far up ahead on the left or down the road that there's like a garbage truck coming things like that it's really fascinating.

So what does this mean for the future of drivers let's look to Wuhan in China that has self-driving cars everywhere so these are done by B and 5 years ago I actually saw them testing these and got to ride one so we're making turns and notice just like a roller coaster No Hands by the end of the year there will be 1,000 of these cars on the streets of Wuhan with China's insanely fast adoption of new technology this is expected to cause huge changes see these rides here can be as cheap as 50 cents and many people are already saying they will never need to buy a car again.

Meanwhile one person commented on a viral video that driving schools Road inspectors and taxis are all going to shut down. The rise of self-driving cars could have big effects on jobs in the economy see it's bringing in new jobs in engineering computer science but at the same time it will mean way fewer jobs for truck drivers and taxi drivers self-driving cars could also help the economy by cutting down on traffic jams and letting people use their time more efficiently but to make these benefits happen we'll need to invest a lot in things like roads and City Planning and just the general adoption of new technology.

So this is a bit frustrating I just ordered this car but I can't communicate and say hey it's me it says no the pickup is over there so I got to move out of the way so he can go and then I have to to walk and get in the car maybe the next version of it is going to have facial recognition or something so it can be like hey it's Upton oh God don't make me walk up this hill all right I am not going to tip.

So now it's saying hey we'll wait for 2 minutes it's time to get in the car. It's actually quite dystopian to see these driving cars without humans inside them and the backdrop of San Francisco which has such a crisis of mental illness and homeless people it's really weird to see something like so much from the future but then the city is struggling with this big crisis and this big problem and same with Los Angeles too which also has wio now something I find quite interesting is that the digital screen on the top of the Whos can actually be used for anything so it says my initials before I get in so I can be sure that hey this car is for me.

The screen on top of the car sometimes if the wayo is at a stoplight or a red light it'll just show a pedestrian now why is it doing that it's actually serving a purpose and providing value to let's say people behind the car or either pedestrians on the street. It's saying hey this car has stopped because there's a pedestrian in front of it and that's really cool when you think about it because right now cars you know when you put on your brakes there's red lights to inform the person behind you hey I'm slowing down so you better slow down too but now you think about what screens can do for the future of driving and actually provide potentially more value.

Now how important is that that's probably Up For Debate it can be a little bit annoying like we pulled into the parking lot and it's like all right I want to go into this building let me out it doesn't understand voice command so it kind of went through the whole parking lot made a right turn turned and now it's letting me out so sometimes little things like that might be a little frustrating but what happens if you stand in front of a self-driving car will it honk will it move what's it going to do for every second I stand here it's actually costing the company money cuz this is a moment that it could be used to pick up other passengers my cameraman is also blocking the other lane so let's just see how smart this thing is.

I'm actually surprised it hasn't honked yet it might be calling Rider support so it's been a few minutes now okay okay you win.

So now you know what the future of self-driving cars is going to look like but I want to know what do you think is this a future and how is it going to impact jobs and the economy let me know in the comments and don't forget to subscribe.

Technology, Innovation, Economics, Autonomous Vehicles, Self-driving Cars, Google