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Re:Autopilot: an open source driving agent by throwaway729 on Wednesday November 30, 2016 @06:35PM (#13075701)
Yes, I absolutely agree with you on that. Nothing wrong with prototyping in whatever setting is most convenient.

I think w/ self-driving cars there is an interesting ethical question. The full auto cars on the roads today definitely aren't production ready, but they also have constant safety drivers. Probably even ACC systems are tested in the wild with a safety driver before production.

Basically, "is the safety driver sufficient to justify running prototype software in the real world?"

Re:Autopilot: an open source driving agent by hasbroslasher on Wednesday November 30, 2016 @11:17PM (#13077136)
Yeah, that's a tough question that we as a society will have to wrestle with. Knowing that humans are imperfect drivers as well doesn't make it any easier. Even cars today have crippling safety flaws -- remember that one Lexus model that had a sticky gas pedal? Or worse yet, the Ford Pinto. I'm genuinely interested to see how the governments of the world weigh in on this, if at all.

Intuitively, though, I think that buying/using the software is tantamount to accepting its imperfections, so long as they are adequately (factually) presented to you beforehand. You're signing off your ability to make your own decisions, but are still responsible for them.