[Music]
what happens when someone feels like
their identity has been challenged
around the world people are asking
themselves what it means to be European
what it means to be Scottish to be
British to be polish yes even what it
means to be American but starting a talk
on autonomous vehicles about identity
that that may seem a little strange but
we’ve heard from lots of people today
people who are men and women students
professors singers all these are
identities that any person can hold at
any given time so when you think about
autonomous vehicles or autonomous
technology what do you think of the
Terminator a romantic comedy about the
38th Governor of California traveling
back in time finding love and saving the
world how about another one I Robot the
story of a young man from West
Philadelphia born and raised attacked on
the playground by a gang of murderous
robots and then sent to live with his
auntie and uncle in bel-air all right
one more one more
ah a Dalek from Doctor Who it’s famous
catchphrase exterminate for all the
Doctor Who fans in the room yes bowties
are cool really Doctor Who in my
personal opinion is one of the greatest
British exports my personal opinion and
like this speech is my own and not that
of the British governments but when we
look at these depictions of autonomous
technology in pop culture it almost
wholly negative something to be feared
well I’m here today to tell everyone
that we have nothing to fear the
autonomous technology will never get so
advanced as to be able to do basic human
tasks like opening doors and as long as
that
the case we can rest assured knowing
that we are safe from destruction at the
hands of our robot friends I guess that
concludes my TED talk it it was a
pleasure knowing you all that video
recently went viral and the reason it
went viral was because there’s something
deeply unsettling about seeing a robot
do a task that is almost wholly been
something that human beings could do so
my contention today is that that fear of
autonomous technology is actually a fear
of change a fear more specifically a
fear of the world changing in such a way
that it challenges one of our most basic
identities no not that of owning a car
not whether you’re an Aston Martin or
McLaren fan a stick or an automatic
hardtop or convertible know something
even more basic than that it’s a fear
that autonomous technology will
challenge what it means to be human
I want to delve more into this idea by
looking at three main points first why
are we talking about this now it seems
like a problem 100 years from now – how
long time is transportation change our
daily lives and finally how should we
respond to this advance an autonomous
technology in the automotive industry
autonomy is viewed on scale from zero to
one I could talk for an hour on this
subject alone on what it will take to
get from where we are to where we have
fully autonomous vehicles but what you
need to know is that on this stage on
this level from zero to five we have
already reached level three leading
experts in the UK and the u.s. think
that we will reach fully autonomous
vehicles as early as the year 2025 not
really a something that’s a long ways
away but it’s just theory right what
about preparation if it’s gonna happen
by 2025 we should be preparing right
94 cities around the world have already
started either piloting or preparing
their infrastructure for autonomous
vehicles 34 in the USA nine right here
in the southeast
okay so theory preparation what about
something even more than that
implementation already at London
Heathrow Airport autonomous pods have
transported 1.5 million people 1.8
million miles without any accidents in
Milton Keynes a city in the UK they just
ordered a fleet of autonomous taxis that
will take people around their downtown
area what about in the air flight yes
autonomous flight already autonomous
drones are being used to deliver much
needed medical equipment into
inaccessible areas of Africa so theory
preparation implementation it’s it’s
already starting yet according to a poll
recently conducted by morning console 58
percent of Americans don’t trust
self-driving cars 44 45 percent of
people don’t believe autonomous vehicles
were ever fully replaced human drivers
just last week in The New York Times a
quote from a 2020 presidential candidate
said all you need is self-driving cars
to destabilize society hmm well that’s
the prevailing mood that’s what people
think but yet we see that it’s on the
way that it will be here soon but all
this is cool but you know it’s
information it’s statistics you know
what is the idea worth sharing
well the idea we’re sharing for me is
what I like to call level 6 what is life
like with a fully autonomous future how
will cars autonomous vehicles change our
lives right here in the USA here in the
USA we’re pretty spread out and so most
people most families that can afford to
everyone in a family of driver age gets
a car
but imagine with an autonomous vehicle
car can take your kids to school can
come home take you to work come home and
take your partner to work come home and
if spot the dog is well-trained enough
it can take spot to the park and back
well what if we’re not talking about
autonomous vehicles per person what if
we’re not even talking about them per
family
what if multiple families are sharing an
autonomous vehicle does that change the
way you view your car hmm well how do we
even choose cars in autonomous vehicles
everything is programmed into their
hardware and as a reaction to their
environment it doesn’t matter if your
car can go from zero to 60 in 2.5
seconds we’re gonna go 220 miles per
hour there’s statistics no longer matter
you know if that is the case then you
know if all cars are functioning exactly
the same no different then does a car
now become a commodity like an apple how
do we choose our cars will will we be
going to the car lot and saying well you
know it’s a nice car and all but it
doesn’t include the standard
refrigerator and I just I don’t know if
I could have a car like that or or maybe
we’ll hear conversations like well you
know this year’s model is great and all
but really a 4k screen I think I’ll hold
out for the hologram next year our front
seats aren’t even gonna have to look
forward anymore no longer will you have
to strain and listen to the person in
the back and person in the front leaning
forward saying what’s that I can’t quite
hear you we can now have conversations
but with with all this with with all
this luxury comes other questions how do
people who rely on $500 $1,000 used cars
survive in a world where it’s illegal to
drive your own car think about public
transportation the bus buses will no
longer be required to stop at fixed
points imagine you get on a bus your
phone tells the bus exactly the address
you want to go to the bus then runs an
algorithm of everyone inside the bus to
see how they can get everyone closest to
their desk
nation’s most efficiently but if that’s
the case then all of a sudden public
transportation is competing with the
likes of uber lyft private industry
what does transportation become then if
it’s all the same service what if it’s
no longer about the car about the
service really what if transportation
becomes something less of a necessity
and something that we view as a
fundamental right times they are
a-changin
what about what about the efficiency of
vehicles there’ll be less vehicles
they’ll be operating at peak efficiency
which means less vehicle emissions which
means less carbon less pollution which
means a more sustainable world think
about safety think about in a world with
autonomous vehicles not having to worry
about accidents that’s 2 million less
accidents a year 1 million less injuries
30,000 lives saved every year just from
autonomous technology think about the
time save from our first responders our
fire police department emergency
services think about where that time can
be used to save even more lives think
about our time how how much time do you
spend a day driving in a week in a month
in a year all that time can be spent
doing other things it can be spent
thinking feeling creating talking the
whole breadth and depth of the human
imagination can be done instead of
spending time driving your car imagine
the world we can create how much better
that we all together can make the world
yet despite this idea you know to change
where the world will go it’s still if I
showed you that video again you’d still
feel that same reaction and even though
even though the world is going to look a
lot different from everything that I’ve
told you today that world that I’ve just
created
is all the effects of automation on one
industry the automotive industry
imagine that level of change that I’ve
just depicted and illustrated for Hugh
imagine that happening in every single
sector a recent Aston Institute study
showed that by the year 2050 potentially
up to 60% of jobs could be affected in
some way by autonomous technology look
to the person beside you one of your two
jobs will be affected by Thomas
technology all of a sudden that fear of
change that fear that our identity as
humans could be challenged especially in
a culture where so many of us define who
we are by what we do all of a sudden
that fear seems somewhat reasonable even
justified so how should we respond maybe
another way of saying that is what
should you take away from what I’ve said
here today what you should take away is
that the world the future
is autonomous it’s not a question of if
but question of when and you know what
even though there isn’t anything that we
can do as a general public to affect the
research and the implementation of
autonomous technology what we can
control is our reactions to these
changes our attitude towards this new
world Automation doesn’t have to
challenge our identity as human beings
if we don’t let it rather than a
challenge the implementation of
autonomous vehicles and autonomous
technology should be used as an
opportunity an opportunity for us to
grapple with what does it really mean to
be human
yes world’s gonna look different there’s
gonna be some changes but that change in
circumstance is not something that we
fear something that we lash out against
something that divides us it should be
something that we embrace yes new
conversations are going to have to be
had conversations about the
affordability of transportation
conversations about the impact of
autonomy on the workforce yes even
conversations such as universal basic
income will become very real debates
right here in the United States but as
we have these conversations in a time
now that seems where division has
prevailed we are fast approaching a day
where we will face something more
radical than an idea worth fighting for
instead it will be an idea worth uniting
for and as long as we face our future
with charity for some equity for all and
above all else an approach that we do
not let fear dictate the decisions we
make together with automation we can
create a better world a safer world a
more sustainable world where we not only
survive but we thrive in our identity as
one humanity thank you
[Applause]
[Music]
what happens when someone feels like
their identity has been challenged
around the world people are asking
themselves what it means to be European
what it means to be Scottish to be
British to be polish yes even what it
means to be American but starting a talk
on autonomous vehicles about identity
that that may seem a little strange but
we’ve heard from lots of people today
people who are men and women students
professors singers all these are
identities that any person can hold at
any given time so when you think about
autonomous vehicles or autonomous
technology what do you think of the
Terminator a romantic comedy about the
38th Governor of California traveling
back in time finding love and saving the
world how about another one I Robot the
story of a young man from West
Philadelphia born and raised attacked on
the playground by a gang of murderous
robots and then sent to live with his
auntie and uncle in bel-air all right
one more one more
ah a Dalek from Doctor Who it’s famous
catchphrase exterminate for all the
Doctor Who fans in the room yes bowties
are cool really Doctor Who in my
personal opinion is one of the greatest
British exports my personal opinion and
like this speech is my own and not that
of the British governments but when we
look at these depictions of autonomous
technology in pop culture it almost
wholly negative something to be feared
well I’m here today to tell everyone
that we have nothing to fear the
autonomous technology will never get so
advanced as to be able to do basic human
tasks like opening doors and as long as
that
the case we can rest assured knowing
that we are safe from destruction at the
hands of our robot friends I guess that
concludes my TED talk it it was a
pleasure knowing you all that video
recently went viral and the reason it
went viral was because there’s something
deeply unsettling about seeing a robot
do a task that is almost wholly been
something that human beings could do so
my contention today is that that fear of
autonomous technology is actually a fear
of change a fear more specifically a
fear of the world changing in such a way
that it challenges one of our most basic
identities no not that of owning a car
not whether you’re an Aston Martin or
McLaren fan a stick or an automatic
hardtop or convertible know something
even more basic than that it’s a fear
that autonomous technology will
challenge what it means to be human
I want to delve more into this idea by
looking at three main points first why
are we talking about this now it seems
like a problem 100 years from now – how
long time is transportation change our
daily lives and finally how should we
respond to this advance an autonomous
technology in the automotive industry
autonomy is viewed on scale from zero to
one I could talk for an hour on this
subject alone on what it will take to
get from where we are to where we have
fully autonomous vehicles but what you
need to know is that on this stage on
this level from zero to five we have
already reached level three leading
experts in the UK and the u.s. think
that we will reach fully autonomous
vehicles as early as the year 2025 not
really a something that’s a long ways
away but it’s just theory right what
about preparation if it’s gonna happen
by 2025 we should be preparing right
94 cities around the world have already
started either piloting or preparing
their infrastructure for autonomous
vehicles 34 in the USA nine right here
in the southeast
okay so theory preparation what about
something even more than that
implementation already at London
Heathrow Airport autonomous pods have
transported 1.5 million people 1.8
million miles without any accidents in
Milton Keynes a city in the UK they just
ordered a fleet of autonomous taxis that
will take people around their downtown
area what about in the air flight yes
autonomous flight already autonomous
drones are being used to deliver much
needed medical equipment into
inaccessible areas of Africa so theory
preparation implementation it’s it’s
already starting yet according to a poll
recently conducted by morning console 58
percent of Americans don’t trust
self-driving cars 44 45 percent of
people don’t believe autonomous vehicles
were ever fully replaced human drivers
just last week in The New York Times a
quote from a 2020 presidential candidate
said all you need is self-driving cars
to destabilize society hmm well that’s
the prevailing mood that’s what people
think but yet we see that it’s on the
way that it will be here soon but all
this is cool but you know it’s
information it’s statistics you know
what is the idea worth sharing
well the idea we’re sharing for me is
what I like to call level 6 what is life
like with a fully autonomous future how
will cars autonomous vehicles change our
lives right here in the USA here in the
USA we’re pretty spread out and so most
people most families that can afford to
everyone in a family of driver age gets
a car
but imagine with an autonomous vehicle
car can take your kids to school can
come home take you to work come home and
take your partner to work come home and
if spot the dog is well-trained enough
it can take spot to the park and back
well what if we’re not talking about
autonomous vehicles per person what if
we’re not even talking about them per
family
what if multiple families are sharing an
autonomous vehicle does that change the
way you view your car hmm well how do we
even choose cars in autonomous vehicles
everything is programmed into their
hardware and as a reaction to their
environment it doesn’t matter if your
car can go from zero to 60 in 2.5
seconds we’re gonna go 220 miles per
hour there’s statistics no longer matter
you know if that is the case then you
know if all cars are functioning exactly
the same no different then does a car
now become a commodity like an apple how
do we choose our cars will will we be
going to the car lot and saying well you
know it’s a nice car and all but it
doesn’t include the standard
refrigerator and I just I don’t know if
I could have a car like that or or maybe
we’ll hear conversations like well you
know this year’s model is great and all
but really a 4k screen I think I’ll hold
out for the hologram next year our front
seats aren’t even gonna have to look
forward anymore no longer will you have
to strain and listen to the person in
the back and person in the front leaning
forward saying what’s that I can’t quite
hear you we can now have conversations
but with with all this with with all
this luxury comes other questions how do
people who rely on $500 $1,000 used cars
survive in a world where it’s illegal to
drive your own car think about public
transportation the bus buses will no
longer be required to stop at fixed
points imagine you get on a bus your
phone tells the bus exactly the address
you want to go to the bus then runs an
algorithm of everyone inside the bus to
see how they can get everyone closest to
their desk
nation’s most efficiently but if that’s
the case then all of a sudden public
transportation is competing with the
likes of uber lyft private industry
what does transportation become then if
it’s all the same service what if it’s
no longer about the car about the
service really what if transportation
becomes something less of a necessity
and something that we view as a
fundamental right times they are
a-changin
what about what about the efficiency of
vehicles there’ll be less vehicles
they’ll be operating at peak efficiency
which means less vehicle emissions which
means less carbon less pollution which
means a more sustainable world think
about safety think about in a world with
autonomous vehicles not having to worry
about accidents that’s 2 million less
accidents a year 1 million less injuries
30,000 lives saved every year just from
autonomous technology think about the
time save from our first responders our
fire police department emergency
services think about where that time can
be used to save even more lives think
about our time how how much time do you
spend a day driving in a week in a month
in a year all that time can be spent
doing other things it can be spent
thinking feeling creating talking the
whole breadth and depth of the human
imagination can be done instead of
spending time driving your car imagine
the world we can create how much better
that we all together can make the world
yet despite this idea you know to change
where the world will go it’s still if I
showed you that video again you’d still
feel that same reaction and even though
even though the world is going to look a
lot different from everything that I’ve
told you today that world that I’ve just
created
is all the effects of automation on one
industry the automotive industry
imagine that level of change that I’ve
just depicted and illustrated for Hugh
imagine that happening in every single
sector a recent Aston Institute study
showed that by the year 2050 potentially
up to 60% of jobs could be affected in
some way by autonomous technology look
to the person beside you one of your two
jobs will be affected by Thomas
technology all of a sudden that fear of
change that fear that our identity as
humans could be challenged especially in
a culture where so many of us define who
we are by what we do all of a sudden
that fear seems somewhat reasonable even
justified so how should we respond maybe
another way of saying that is what
should you take away from what I’ve said
here today what you should take away is
that the world the future
is autonomous it’s not a question of if
but question of when and you know what
even though there isn’t anything that we
can do as a general public to affect the
research and the implementation of
autonomous technology what we can
control is our reactions to these
changes our attitude towards this new
world Automation doesn’t have to
challenge our identity as human beings
if we don’t let it rather than a
challenge the implementation of
autonomous vehicles and autonomous
technology should be used as an
opportunity an opportunity for us to
grapple with what does it really mean to
be human
yes world’s gonna look different there’s
gonna be some changes but that change in
circumstance is not something that we
fear something that we lash out against
something that divides us it should be
something that we embrace yes new
conversations are going to have to be
had conversations about the
affordability of transportation
conversations about the impact of
autonomy on the workforce yes even
conversations such as universal basic
income will become very real debates
right here in the United States but as
we have these conversations in a time
now that seems where division has
prevailed we are fast approaching a day
where we will face something more
radical than an idea worth fighting for
instead it will be an idea worth uniting
for and as long as we face our future
with charity for some equity for all and
above all else an approach that we do
not let fear dictate the decisions we
make together with automation we can
create a better world a safer world a
more sustainable world where we not only
survive but we thrive in our identity as
one humanity thank you
[Applause]
[Music]
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