shinyshoes

I think that's a good analogy. From my hobby neuroscience studies I'd say that what we see in life is more or less a selective hallucination (we filter out, for instance, electromagnetic fields which bees can actually see) -- so it's almost more literal than merely it being similar to seeing. It likely is equivalent to seeing or very close. Dreaming, for instance, creates life-like imagery despite being technically disconnected from incoming light/inputs. Our brains are wild little nodes.

I think, for me, the idea is that these companies aren't really gunning to make profits immediately and all are really in the play to get to automated taxis.

I'd assume automation of the vehicles plummets labor costs and then subsidizing the prices due to increased rider volume would be permissible.

That may be in the 10-15 year range, but I think they'll float along until something like that occurs. It's just a matter of time.

But I'm just a wild speculator.