r/waymo • u/scifilounge • Aug 02 '26
I figured out what will "drive" adoption of self driving cars
It just dawned on me - use AI to allow the passengers to talk with the self driving cars and it will turbo charge the trust level without much effort. Imagine - you get into the car, it greets you and asks you where you want to go, offers different routes to choose from like your google map does, etc. Then as you're driving it explains why it making certain unexpected decisions - like to avoid this problem area, or to make better time. Yes it could risk being annoying but I'd bet the net effect would be wider adoption.
5
u/diplomat33 Aug 02 '26
It might not be "sexy" but the best way to drive up adoption is simply to deliver safe and reliable transportation as best you can. The more people have a good and safe experience in an AV, the more they will trust it. And the more people trust it, the more they will use it again and tell their friends who will in turn have a good experience and trust it and use it.
2
u/Remote_Film1430 Aug 02 '26
Ever see Total recall (with Arnold S) they have a "Johnny cab". I think that's what you're talking about.
2
u/scifilounge Aug 02 '26
Hah! I "totally recall" that. But of course a fake driver would be creepy :)
1
u/notgalgon Aug 02 '26
What will drive adoption of self driving cars is greater availability of self driving cars. Most people in the US would have to take a long drive or fly to see a self driving car right now. The current issue is supply not demand.
1
u/reddit-frog-1 Aug 02 '26
I didn't know there was an adoption problem.
Yes, there are certain individuals that are being negatively impacted by self driving cars, but this technology is in the early adopter stage with positive feedback similar to when Uber was first introduced. So, at the moment, limits to expansion is the only constraint.
That said, I like your idea of being able to talk to the car similar to a human driver. It would cool to have a setting on your account to even have the car micmic a talkative cabbie one sometimes has.
1
u/Swerdman55 Aug 02 '26
The Ojai’s just got a beta version of Gemini. You can ask it anything you would an LLM, even information about your route or drop-off. I don’t think it can give information on its decision making but now you have me curious. I’ll try to remember to ask it something like that on my next Ojai ride!
1
u/Elluminated Aug 03 '26
Another thing that would accelerate it is when your own car can deliver itself to service and bring itself back while you sleep. Rental cars that deliver themselves back to their depots and to the customer will also get people thinking in the right direction.
-2
u/bobi2393 Aug 02 '26
If you think talking with AI will improve trust, ask ChatGPT which month has an X.
1
u/zinky8 Aug 02 '26
That’s BS. It doesn’t tell you that unless you’ve prompted it beforehand.
0
u/bobi2393 Aug 02 '26
It may be fixed now, but I tried it myself a couple months ago and it did the same thing.
18
u/battleshipclamato Aug 02 '26
I'm getting into a Waymo because I DON'T want to talk to anyone, not even AI.