VOA新闻杂志2022--自动驾驶汽车可能需要人工帮助

Self-Driving Cars May Require Human Help

Makers¹ of self driving, or autonomous², vehicles have raised tens of billions of dollars based on promises to develop the fully³ robotic product. However, industry leaders and experts say the technology may forever require human supervision⁴.

Supporters of autonomous vehicles, or AVs, say that computers and robotic technology will reduce the number of traffic accidents. But in reality, making self-driving cars safer than human-operated is complex. Self-driving programming lacks the human ability to predict and recognize risk quickly.

Kyle Vogt is the head of Cruise, a unit of American car company General Motors (GM). When asked if he believed humans could ever be completely free of vehicle operation, Vogt questioned the worthiness⁵ of such a goal.

"I can provide my customers peace of mind knowing there is always a human there to help if needed," he said. "I don't know why I'd ever want to get rid of that."

GM recalled and updated software in 80 Cruise self-driving vehicles this month after a crash in June. Two people were injured in the accident in San Francisco, California. U.S. safety officials said the recalled software could "incorrectly predict" an oncoming vehicle's path. Cruise said its vehicles would not make the same mistake again after the update.

For some, the need for human supervision increases doubt about the technology. And entirely⁶ self-driving vehicles are far behind in development that industry leaders have promised.

In 2018, GM sought U.S. government approval for a fully autonomous car. It had no steering⁷ wheel or brake or gas pedals. It was to be marketed in 2019. But that vehicle, the Cruise Origin, now is not expected to begin production until spring 2023, Vogt said.

In 2019, Tesla head Elon Musk⁸ promised 1 million robotaxis would be in place by 2020. His company's "Full Self Driving" feature has been criticized because its cars use human operators.

In June, Musk said that building self-driving cars had been far more difficult than he had expected.

Mike Wagner is with Edge Case Research, which helps AV companies analyze⁹ risk.

He said: "If these companies don't succeed over the next two years, they're not going to exist anymore."

A human eye is watching

Many AV companies today use humans as remote piloting supervisors¹⁰. They support self-driving cars in dealing¹¹ with unexpected events on the road. The industry calls these "edge cases."

Edge cases could include street closures for roadwork, or unpredictable actions by a human driver or walker.

When a self-driving car experiences an edge case, "it puts its hands up and says, 'I don't know what's going on,'" said Koosha Kaveh. He is with Imperium Drive, which is using humans as remote operators for cars in the British city of Milton Keynes. Kaveh said their work is similar to air traffic controllers but for autonomous cars instead of planes.

Cruise's Vogt says the company's AVs on the roads in San Francisco currently depend on humans less than one percent of the time. But across thousands or even millions of AVs, that would add up to a large amount of time stopped on the road waiting for human guidance.

‘Rush to market'

Autonomous systems are not as effective as people because their "perception and prediction algorithms are not as good as how a human brain processes and decides," said expert Chris Borroni-Bird. He has worked with self-driving vehicles with GM and Waymo.

For example, Borroni-Bird said a human seeing a ball roll into a road is likely to immediately recognize that a child might be chasing that ball. AVs will not. So, a human driver will reduce speed far more quickly than an AV in such an edge case.

That worries Borroni-Bird.

"I am concerned that AV companies will rush to market without proving the safety is better than human-driven vehicles," he said.

Words in This Story

get rid of — v. to do something so that you no longer have or are affected¹² or bothered by

recall — n. an official order for someone or something to return

pedal — n. a flat piece of metal, rubber, etc., that you push with your foot to make a machine move, work, or stop

remote — adj. connected to a computer system from another place

perception — n. the way you think about or understand someone or something

algorithm — n. a set of steps that are followed in order to solve a mathematical problem or to complete a computer process

1 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

5 worthiness   

价值，值得

参考例句：

• It'satisfies the spraying robot's function requirement and has practical worthiness. " 运行试验表明，系统工作稳定可靠，满足了喷雾机器人的功能要求，具有实用价值。
• The judge will evaluate the worthiness of these claims. 法官会评估这些索赔的价值。

6 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

7 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。

8 musk   

n.麝香, 能发出麝香的各种各样的植物，香猫

参考例句：

• Musk is used for perfume and stimulant.麝香可以用作香料和兴奋剂。
• She scented her clothes with musk.她用麝香使衣服充满了香味。

9 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

10 supervisors   

n.监督者，管理者( supervisor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I think the best technical people make the best supervisors. 我认为最好的技术人员可以成为最好的管理人员。 来自辞典例句
• Even the foremen or first-level supervisors have a staffing responsibility. 甚至领班或第一线的监督人员也有任用的责任。 来自辞典例句

11 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

12 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。