…is alive and well at Google with their recently announced automated cars. Amidst all the hype about cars that drive themselves, no one seems to have thought about the fact that these GoogleMobiles have logged over 140,000 miles in secret on California public highways with no official oversight or permission. Two obvious problems here: no attempt to obtain informed consent from any of the millions of California drivers sharing the road with with robocars, and the all-to-common sleazoid practice of socializing risk while privatizing reward. The cars may be “Smarter than you think,” but it’s pretty clear that both Google and their boosters at the New York Times have advanced cases of ethical rot. “Don’t be evil”, indeed.
Update (13 October). What is it with California? Apparently any bunch of assholes can appropriate the highways for their own purposes.
The Random Texan 
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