Automation…and then what?

Kevin Roose: Shouldn’t the goal be total automation, though? Shouldn't we want Google or Tesla to get to 100 percent automation with these cars, so roads will be safer and crashes will be less frequent?

Nichols Carr: We should encourage the innovation and engineering to go in the direction of giving us that opportunity. And I think it will. It’s always hard when people start talking about safety to say, "Well, maybe that’s not the only thing we have to worry about." Driving is a pleasurable activity for many people. It’s one of the rare times when you can relax and be in charge, be in control. Looking at this purely as a matter of efficiency and safety misses something important.

One of the things that worries me is this belief that, ultimately, we can use computers and automation to create this perfectly efficient, safe society without saying, "Who the hell wants to live in that society?"