Bill Gates tried out a self-driving car, admiring that unmanned cars would be as revolutionary as PC.
Despite disputes between Bill Gates and Elon Musk over areas such as climate change and artificial intelligence, the two tech tycoons may agree on one thing: the transformative potential of self-driving cars.
Gates recently published a blog post about self-driving cars. He predicts that self-driving car technology will reach a "tipping point" within the next decade. Once cars are truly self-driving, they will be as revolutionary as personal computers. "by then, self-driving cars will revolutionize traffic, just as personal computers have revolutionized office work." Gates said.
He also recently rode in a self-driving car developed by British startup Wayve, an experience that seemed to impress him. He said the experience was "fantastic". But he also pointed out in his blog that the safety driver next to him took over the car several times.
"the self-driving car took us around central London and it was one of the most challenging driving environments imaginable. Sitting in the car feels a bit surreal because it avoids all the obstacles." Gates said.
Gates believes that only after self-driving technology is applied to long-distance trucks, express vehicles, taxis and rental cars will individual vehicles have self-driving functions. He predicts that self-driving cars will eventually be cheaper than ordinary cars, save people's time (for driving) and help the elderly and the disabled travel. However, he believes that the widespread popularity of self-driving cars may take "decades".
So far, no individual vehicle can drive itself, although some companies have begun to offer self-driving taxi services in some cities. Services such as GM's Cruise and Waymo use detailed maps and programming and operate only in specific areas of the city. By contrast, Wayve (much like Tesla) wants to develop an artificial intelligence-driven car that can learn to drive anywhere, even where it has never been before.
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