Recent observations indicate that driverless cars, like those from Waymo, are beginning to show human-like behaviors such as impatience while on the road. Engineering Professor William Riggs highlighted this evolution during a test ride, noticing that the car displayed a rolling start at a pedestrian crossing. This subtle action suggests a shift from strict adherence to traffic rules towards a more human-like driving style that balances safety with efficiency. Waymo's product management team is adapting to train the vehicles to be more assertive, allowing them to blend seamlessly with human drivers and make them more predictable on the road.
The action of letting the foot gently off the brake moments before they should to allow the car to begin creeping forward at a rolling pace displays a sense of impatience - a human reaction not previously seen in the robotic cars.
From an evolutionary standpoint, you're seeing a lot more anticipation and assertiveness from the vehicles, which may enhance their interaction with human drivers.
Being an assertive driver means that you're more predictable, that you blend into the environment, that you do things that you expect other humans on the road to do.
Human specialists who drive the cars to train them had to juggle two separate goals: ensuring Waymo followed every traffic law while also transporting customers in a reasonable timeframe.
Collection
[
|
...
]