Alex Roy who works at Argo AI offers a simple litmus test for determining if a car is really self-driving or not:
"Pick a vehicle. Can you get in, pick a destination and safely go to sleep? If yes, it’s self-driving. If no, it’s not"
Source: It's Not a Self-Driving Car Unless You Can Sleep In It
Alex's "sleep" litmus test seems to be a special case of the "mind off" litmus test. Sleep works because you can't be controlling the car in your sleep so the car is definitely doing all the driving. So it does work to prove the car is truly self-driving.
But we could probably think of other "mind off" activities that could also serve as a litmus test:
- Can I ride in the back seat with no driver in the front seat?
- Can I read a book while the car drives?
- Can I watch a movie while the car drives?
I think we might be able to generalize Alex's litmus test: "if you can't safely take your mind off of driving, it is not self-driving".
"Pick a vehicle. Can you get in, pick a destination and safely go to sleep? If yes, it’s self-driving. If no, it’s not"
We need a self-driving litmus test. Not a technical test, or debate over how it works. We need a self-driving litmus test because we need to know whether someone is talking about a real self-driving car, or something simpler, like the cars with driver assistance features people use everyday.
Besides, normal people don’t really care what things are called. We say we do, but we don’t. We care about what things do, and how well they do them.
So here’s my self-driving litmus test. It’s a simple test, as easy as flicking a light switch to check if my power is on.
Can I sleep in it?
That’s it. That’s the test. Pick a vehicle. Can you get in, pick a destination and safely go to sleep? If yes, it’s self-driving. If no, it’s not.
That’s the thing. “Self-driving” has to mean you can sleep in it, because if it doesn’t, what will we call self-driving vehicles that will let you close your eyes?
So remember, my friends. Don’t believe the hype. If you can’t sleep in it, it’s not self-driving.
Source: It's Not a Self-Driving Car Unless You Can Sleep In It
Alex's "sleep" litmus test seems to be a special case of the "mind off" litmus test. Sleep works because you can't be controlling the car in your sleep so the car is definitely doing all the driving. So it does work to prove the car is truly self-driving.
But we could probably think of other "mind off" activities that could also serve as a litmus test:
- Can I ride in the back seat with no driver in the front seat?
- Can I read a book while the car drives?
- Can I watch a movie while the car drives?
I think we might be able to generalize Alex's litmus test: "if you can't safely take your mind off of driving, it is not self-driving".