Nass has proven over and over again that
individuals treat gadgets as if they are other
humans, expecting machines to be sensitive
to our moods and feelings.
en far enough ahead.
“We’re interested in your attention level. Do you freak out more
when you get cut off, or when the
computer gets cut off? When is it
scary?” Nass explains. Later, he
elaborates that knowing my emotional state would help researchers understand whether I trusted
my driverless car to handle emergencies for me. “The point is, if
the car gets cut off and you remain
totally calm, it means you trusted
the car would keep you safe. One
of the critical issues with autonomous cars is trust. Because if you
don’t trust the car, it won’t work.”
Slightly further down the road,
the car tells me it’s my turn to
drive. I dutifully put my hands
back on the wheel and fix my eyes
on the road — just in time to see a
construction worker emerge from
a pile of orange cones and amble
across the street. I swerve the car
to avoid it, sending the Toyota
spinning over the median and into
oncoming traffic. Car 1, Human 0.
Though Nass’ research will offer more precise insights into
self-driving cars, engineers have
already spent decades studying
how people work with automated
systems in cockpits, trains, nuclear reactors, mines and ships. Of
course, each situation has its own
nuances. Yet on the whole, research suggests that drivers could
have difficulty adjusting to their
car’s electronic “wingman.”
Pilots’ collaboration with autopilot systems offers a useful point
of comparison for anticipating
how drivers will adapt to driverless cars, these experts say. They
also warn that any problems with
automation in aviation are likely
to be magnified when t ransferred
to drivers, who aren’t as welltrained as pilots, and to roads,
where cars face numerous obstacles and a slim margin of error.
Though autopilot systems have
yielded enormous improvements in
airline safety, some experts caution
pilots have become so dependent on
help from intelligent software that
they are forgetting how to fly. The
Federal Aviation Administration