Steven Shladover on self-driving cars

There is a lot of hype about this technology. Steven Shladover puts it all into perspective and gives it a damper.

Although they sound like the stuff of the future, manufacturers have been working on developing automated cars for decades. Advocates say such vehicles could help alleviate traffic, prevent accidents and reduce emissions. But as Steven Shladover of the University of California, Berkeley’s PATH program argues in the June Scientific American, industry and media have oversold the promise of so-called “self-driving” cars. Automated cars are coming—and that’s a good thing—but they will be different from what the hype suggests.

More here and here.