I'm not disputing that among robot makers Waymo has got it right more than anyone else. Remarkably so in fact. Waymo appeared to be about two orders of magnitude safer than humans, maybe more. That's good enough to take a few percentage points of the ride hailing business and launch a relatively rapid expansion. I would much rather have a Waymo pass me on my road bike than any other vehicle or driver.
I don't think any other robots that are so deeply embedded in normal human environments are even close to this level of safety and reliability. But we don't let toddlers and people who have severely restricted mobility near traffic without supervision. Robots in the home are going to have to be much more safe than Waymos so they don't break grandma in half or fling the baby across the room. Or think of it this way: driving over a cat in the road isn't nearly as bad as crushing the cat at home.
I'm not disputing that among robot makers Waymo has got it right more than anyone else. Remarkably so in fact. Waymo appeared to be about two orders of magnitude safer than humans, maybe more. That's good enough to take a few percentage points of the ride hailing business and launch a relatively rapid expansion. I would much rather have a Waymo pass me on my road bike than any other vehicle or driver.
I don't think any other robots that are so deeply embedded in normal human environments are even close to this level of safety and reliability. But we don't let toddlers and people who have severely restricted mobility near traffic without supervision. Robots in the home are going to have to be much more safe than Waymos so they don't break grandma in half or fling the baby across the room. Or think of it this way: driving over a cat in the road isn't nearly as bad as crushing the cat at home.