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Technology in cars today: Should there be a limit

To what extent should we give up control over our cars?

BHPian pd1108 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I read in an article in The Guardian that due to a technical issue with the App, hundreds of Tesla users were locked out of their cars. This got me thinking - to what extent should we give up control over our cars? Here is the link to the news item.

Here is a list of things that we have/are giving up:

  • Automatic gear shift - or control over which gear to use
  • Cruise Control - or control over speed
  • ADAS system - or control over driving
  • App-based utilities - or managing the car remotely

The list goes on. And this is where we already have seconded the control over to technology.

So my question to my friends is when should we say - this much and no more?

Here's what BHPian TorqueMonster had to say about the matter:

I don't think that there should be a total limit to technology, just ensuring that technology becomes advanced and more usable in nature.

For automatic cars, they have essentially made driving easier for everyone. Gone are the days of primitive 3 - 4 gear automatics (Except Maruti who is still stuck on 4), now we have fuel-efficient, and even fun-to-drive automatic gearboxes, all of these are a total boon in the city and for daily use. Automatics have allowed thousands of people to learn how to drive, made people use cars when they would have not bought them otherwise. It has provided relief to all those who want to drive cars but do not like the constant shifting of gears, the ease which ATs provide is excellent.

Same with Cruise Control. Even though it is not useful on most Indian highways, it is useful to just munch highway miles when it can be applied.

As for ADAS, why would humans actually oppose technology that would make their travel safer? ADAS will make driving safer for humans. Even if technology is taking over driving, it is for a good cause of safe driving.

App-Based systems are in their infancy and Manufacturers putting them in cars is disadvantageous, as customers are stuck with Pre - Mature Technology. But, in the future, as the world continues to be in control of our phones, it will be very useful.

I do agree that Tesla's app-based system is not the best, and certainly an inconvenience. But generally, the automotive sphere has only benefitted with the growth of technology, and for me, any limits placed on technology is akin to purposefully ignoring what the future could be.

I just hope that companies spend more time actually perfecting their technology, instead of throwing half baked tech on the consumers, to prevent incidents as the Tesla incident mentioned here.

Here's what BHPian aargee had to say about the matter:

Following are some of the things that we've given up:

Due to hill-hold assist features, we could soon miss the hand brakes as well.

Point is, as evolution progresses, humans adapt towards the greater benefit of mankind; the only limit is our imagination & as long as there are dreams, there's progress, there's evolution, there's no limitation to technology.

Here's what BHPian railfanwithk750 had to say about the matter:

No amount of technology would hurt, as long as there is a human 'override'. An AI-based algorithm or a cloud-based app should not have 100% control over any aspect of our lives, be it our cars or our TVs or phones.

If technology is here for 'assistance', I should have full control on whether to seek full assistance, partial assistance or to entirely turn it off without impacting any other functionality of the gadget or device.

Here's what BHPian ampere had to say about the matter:

In my opinion, there are three aspects to this:

  • As long as technology remains a good servant and does not become the master we are good. And we need to let it stay that way.
  • The reliability of technology is the biggest threat to its adoption. Dependence and reliability are two sides of the same coin.
  • Last, but not least, is the rate of its adoption. In confluence with the previous, it's also inevitable that some sections will move to the newer technology earlier than others. So as long this technology is made for self-consumption there is no problem. But the moment one also has to depend on others for the success of technology it's a larger problem pertaining to the community (ADAS is a good example of that).

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

 
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