Ontario rolls out autonomous truck pilot program

mind me asking your reasoning for thinking this?

asking respectfully as somebody who worries about the job he’s finally found that he loves is under threat from greedy billionaires and their tech.

 

Simple. Too many variables. Our road systems in Canada and the northern U.S. are in horrible shape. Winter. Piss poor drivers, cars and semis. I’m sure the technology will advance to a point where it puts jobs at risk, but I feel that’s decades off. I’d be more concerned about ai and automation if I was working in a factory, or doing a repetitive job.

 

The news that hits the public isn't always accurate up-to-date information. Sometimes, certain information is distilled through the media outlets to divert our attention away from the truth and give us a false sense of security. There will be less boycotting and upheaval from the trucking community if you tell them "we're decades away because there are so many factors the developers can't account for".
The port workers thought that they had the right idea with the strike but even they knew that it would only delay inevitable for so long. Even the fear that the death toll will rise and the number of insurance claims will increase won't keep them off the roads for long because the autonomous trucks won't be driving distracted.
There was article about a man being killed by a machine while he was troubleshooting it because it mistook him for a can of vegetables, but even that couldn't put a hault on further development. Me hearing "an expert" say "we probably won't be there til your grandkids are in college" still isn't a guarantee

 

Exactly. All I will say is drive through BC on literally any winter day. I've driven those roads a lot, sometimes there's 6" (or more) of fresh snow over compact snow and the plow has literally only made one pass down the middle of the highway. Every time you meet oncoming traffic it's a game of where's the shoulder. Possibility of having to chain up several times during the course of one trip from Vancouver to Jasper (good luck with those auto chains lol).

 

Not at all. But the tech just isn’t there to account for the variables. There’s a reason they are doing test runs in Arizona, California, places where the highways and lines don’t get affected by bad weather and the roads remain smooth.ask yourself, why don’t they test them in North Dakota or Minnesota in the winter?

 

The ports need to be concerned. That’s one area where automation will take over. Europe and Asia are mostly automated at ports. During the recent strikes, that was a sticking point… members wanted less automation.

 

That just it, the tech IS there and has been for quite a while. but it's being held back. Think what would happen to the economy is all the AI that's available were implemented suddenly.

I'll tell you a little story
In 1960 I was in camp Borden doing basic training, there was a guy from Sask there that took a school trip to a nuclear plant and had a light bulb that only needed a piece of tinfoil to light up. I actually held in in my hand

Another 1, there has been plants where you put the products in 1 end and a car comes out the other for many years all robotic.

And I direct you to post 15 on this thread
Autonomous trucks are OLD tech now

 

For sure, things like mfg, and dc centres, those will be automated first and jobs eliminated. Ports as well.

 

I still have many doubts. So many that I would still trust a New Canadian fresh off the plane with a fake license more than self driving tech.