I was very surprised by what I saw. I definitely did at least a double look and probably a triple look. It was a car driving without a person in the front seat.
Recently, I was in Arizona, and as we were pulling up to a stoplight a car pulled up next to us with nobody in the front seat. As I searched for a person in the car, I did end up seeing somebody in the backseat. Trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together, I finally figured out that this was a Jaguar Waymo car.
After doing a quick internet search, I discovered Waymo is owned by Alphabet, the same company that owns Google. Waymo offers a ride service with automated, self-driving cars. They offer a taxi service similar to Uber, but with self-driving cars. Yes, artificial intelligence can be found in places beyond ChatGPT. So, only in certain cities you can jump on the Waymo app to pay for a car to take you where you want to go. Waymo’s self-driving car service is currently only in four cities: Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin. Artificial intelligence in cars is improving fast.
As amazing as it is that this self-driving technology is here and being used, there is a long way to go. Self-driving cars are not perfect at driving. Just in July 2024, a Waymo car decided to go eastbound in some westbound lanes in the Phoenix area. If a human made this driving mistake, there would be consequences. So, this brings up questions of what kind of consequences you give to self-driving cars.
After seeing dozens of these self-driving Waymo cars around the Phoenix area, I felt like we were 30 years into the future. It felt like a sci-fi movie was happening before my very eyes, which was exciting to experience. Although we have a ways to go with testing out these self-driving cars, it looks like this is the path that is unfolding for the future of transportation. It’s possible that in just the year 2035 or sooner that these cars will be all over the country.
March 31, 2025