The job advertisements sound glamorous. “Join the driverless revolution! Train self-driving cars!” says one recruitment notice for Cruise Automation, General Motors’ automated driving unit.
Yet the role of the safety driver in autonomous vehicles is increasingly contentious and challenging, however tempting the offer may sound.
Gathering real-world data and encountering a wide range of experiences are vital for autonomous systems to build the knowledge required to navigate any situation. To advance this process, self-driving systems have shifted rapidly in recent years from a few dozen test cars pottering around Silicon Valley to large-scale pilot projects.