Episode 5: The Automated Driver

Join us on a road trip. Our destination? The future of driving. Our guest is Dr. Steve Dellenback, vice president of the Intelligent Systems Division at Southwest Research Institute and an expert in the field of automated vehicles, or self-driving cars. The technology is in the fast lane and is already in limited use in commercial and military settings, but there are also plenty of road blocks. For instance, you program an automated car to obey traffic laws. So, how do you teach it to react in unexpected situations that require it to break the law, let’s say, to save a life? If the technology fails and results in an accident, who’s to blame, the passenger, the manufacturer, or the software designer? Along with the accelerated advancements come the ethical speed bumps. Listen now as we merge into automated traffic and hit the highways of self-driving vehicles.