The Daimler debut of the driverless Freightliner Inspiration Truck, albeit only for testing, is already causing anxiety for professional truck drivers. They are the first set of people who make a living from driving who are expressing what most proponents of driverless vehicles know is coming - that human drivers will not be needed. These workers probably have 10 years. I'm also guessing that the Daimler truck, envisioning a human aboard, will be, at most, an interim phase, before trucks have no one aboard.
This does not make the Teamsters Union happy. Their tactic is to foster uncertainty about driverless trucks. That strategy did not get them anywhere in manufacturing, which has heavily automated, and it will not save any jobs for drivers, in my personal opinion.
Now for all those whose work depends on brains
Any high-level cognitive worker should stop chuckling now. Your job will soon be threatened as well. MIT has developed underwater exploration robots that decide how to perform certain aspects of their work and they can perform cooperatively with other robots. Now that we all have anxiety, maybe we should all consider opening those artisnal cupcake shops and distilleries.
Parents have different attitudes
Parents look at the driverless future a different way. They would like to see automation in cars that keeps their sometimes irresponsible teenage children safe, despite themselves. They want to see speed-limited cars, geographic range limits, curfew guarantors, and even a system that restricts the number of passengers. If you have ever waited up at night to hear the car in the driveway or the key turn the lock, you would understand.
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