Tim Cook Confirms Apple's Focus on Autonomous Driving Systems

[Robert.Walter]

This is gonna be hard choice,
- On the one hand the Google car will follow the best directions to ge me there
- but on the other hand the Apple car won't get a virus and crash
[doublepost=1497356406][/doublepost]

Actually most planes land at airports with AI nowadays

Whether you know it or not, all cars drive with software today, some with more, some with less:
- spark timing in engine;
- anti lock brakes;
- traction control;
- swerve, side slip, crosswind control & recovery;
- airbags;
- wipers;
- brake lights;
- hydraulic variable steering;
- electric steering;
- cruise control & radar braking;

If mankind could master the silicon and the bits necessary to deliver the tech that makes you a better driver and safer passenger, why do you think it's beyond them to tie many of these extant systems together to deliver tech that, while not perfect, will massively improve the current state of safety on our roadways?

 

[AFEPPL]

Trust me I own an Audi. And a GTI. The tech sucks in both. And they are new cars.
Apple will only get better at this( one hopes).

Well my RS7 Performance 2017, R8+ 2016 and S5 2017 all don't suck.. two of which have CarPlay and the Audi systems are leagues better and more functional IMO.

 

[Aston441]

Machines will fail, certainly. But humans fail at a much higher rate.

At the ends of the bell curve, where it matters most, humans win. No computer could have ever done what Sulley did.

 

[iReality85]

What even is the point, unless Apple controls the means of car production?

It all seems so very un-Apple, and is akin to Apple putting MacOS out there for installation on regular PCs.

Automobiles (from any company, take your pick) are powerfully distinctive end-to-end products, just like a MacBook Pro. The design, aesthetic, and function of an automobile is not just a statement about the driver, but also about the manufacturer. There's a reason you can easily spot a Ferrari, an Audi, a Tesla, or a Ford. Without even having driven one, you probably already understand the accoutrements of each, and the types of people who drive them.

The automobile manufacturers aren't going to just implement Apple's autonomous driving system just because it develops it. Furthermore, many of them are already developing their own driverless systems (albeit slowly). Apple's will be patented and most likely come with a royalty.

If Apple wants complete end-to-end creativity, direction, and implementation of its driverless AI system, it's going to have to shop around. Use some of that warchest to buy out one of the manufacturers. Otherwise, I think it will be a case of "Thanks but no thanks, we'll do it our way."

 

[recoil80]

IF Apple can nail the software powering these autonomous/self driving vehicles then I'm not worried at all about their ability to build a car. The software is the much more difficult part IMO. I'm surprised people think Apple can nail that but can't actually build a car.

The problem is not building the cars, but selling and repairing them.
Either they'll open thousands of Apple's service and repair garages across the world or they'll rely on other car makers for that.

The problem wouldn't exist if they didn't sell the cars to customers, but use them for a service like Uber. As far as I remember they invested money on a car riding service in China, so it might be their target

 

[Aston441]

What even is the point, unless Apple controls the means of car production?

It all seems so very un-Apple, and is akin to Apple putting MacOS out their for installation on regular PCs.

Automobiles (from any company, take your pick) are powerfully distinctive end-to-end products, just like a MacBook Pro. The design, aesthetic, and function of an automobile is not just a statement about the driver, but also about the manufacturer. There's a reason you can easily spot a Ferrari, an Audi, a Tesla, or a Ford. Without even having driven one, you probably already understand the accoutrements of each, and the types of people who drive them.

The automobile manufacturers aren't going to just implement Apple's autonomous driving system just because it develops it. Furthermore, many of them are already developing their own driverless systems (albeit slowly). Apple's will be patented and most likely come with a royalty.

If Apple wants complete end-to-end creativity, direction, and implementation of it's driverless AI system, it's going to have to shop around. Use some of that warchest to buy out one of the manufacturers. Otherwise, I think it will be a case of "Thanks but no thanks, we'll do it our way."

Agreed. There's no way Apple can figure out from scratch what the Big Boys have developed over decades of racing experience.

What even is the point, unless Apple controls the means of car production?

It all seems so very un-Apple, and is akin to Apple putting MacOS out their for installation on regular PCs.

Automobiles (from any company, take your pick) are powerfully distinctive end-to-end products, just like a MacBook Pro. The design, aesthetic, and function of an automobile is not just a statement about the driver, but also about the manufacturer. There's a reason you can easily spot a Ferrari, an Audi, a Tesla, or a Ford. Without even having driven one, you probably already understand the accoutrements of each, and the types of people who drive them.

The automobile manufacturers aren't going to just implement Apple's autonomous driving system just because it develops it. Furthermore, many of them are already developing their own driverless systems (albeit slowly). Apple's will be patented and most likely come with a royalty.

If Apple wants complete end-to-end creativity, direction, and implementation of it's driverless AI system, it's going to have to shop around. Use some of that warchest to buy out one of the manufacturers. Otherwise, I think it will be a case of "Thanks but no thanks, we'll do it our way."

Agreed. Chrysler is for sale. They actually have quite a bit of good suspension and drivetrain expertise, especially the stuff inherited from Mercedes and Fiat. The problem with Chrysler is that the upper middle management is full of retards. That problem is potentially fixable.

 

[iapplelove]

Well my RS7 Performance 2017, R8+ 2016 and S5 2017 all don't suck.. two of which have CarPlay and the Audi systems are leagues better and more functional IMO.

Sorry I can't afford a 100k plus car lol wish I could. I have a lowly S3. But the tech even on BMW...yawn.

I would hope yours had something better to go along with the price tags.

 

[Thunderhawks]

The last thing I would do is to let my car be driving by a software. It is going to fail. In the street you need skills. Is not of what you could do but about what every one else could be doing. On top of that... it is a software with bugs. Would you be riding at 80 MPH on a software?

We can't have a closed mind using current technical possibilities to limit development of ANYTHING.
Together with autonomous cars it will be necessary to adjust what drivers will be allowed to do. There will be laws, outcries of freedoms taken away. (Baloney, with all the restrictions we already have)

The speeding and reckless drivers will be curtailed as it is proven that if all traffic moves at the same speed there are less accidents,

Yes, we are only at the beginning and there is a lot to work out.

If somebody told you just 25 years ago that we would have PHONEs with todays capabilities and sizes you would probably just have said : Yeah, right!

 

[DaveOP]

The last thing I would do is to let my car be driving by a software. It is going to fail. In the street you need skills. Is not of what you could do but about what every one else could be doing. On top of that... it is a software with bugs. Would you be riding at 80 MPH on a software?

Conversely, humans are more prone to mistakes, as evidenced by the enormous number of auto accidents per year. As this technology gets better and better, you won't have to worry as much about the people around you.

 

[newdeal]

selling a car makes no sense. Selling AI for a car also makes no sense. The car companies are going to want to have this be in house, proprietary technology so that they can 1) use it as a differentiating feature from competition 2) be in charge so that the burden for safety isn't on a third party company (normally you would think this burden they would love to put on someone else but if the technology is no good then their brand is at risk because of someone else's technology)

 

[DTphonehome]

At the ends of the bell curve, where it matters most, humans win. No computer could have ever done what Sulley did.

But the ends of the bell curve are not where it matters most. It matters most in the middle of the bell curve, where the area under the curve is greatest. These everyday driving situations where humans fail regularly are where computer AI is going to save lives and improve efficiency. A "miracle on the Hudson" happens every few decades. Routine crashes due to driver fatigue, human decision making failure, etc happen every single day and take tens of thousands of lives a year in the USA.

 

[nt5672]

The last thing I would do is to let my car be driving by a software. It is going to fail. In the street you need skills. Is not of what you could do but about what every one else could be doing. On top of that... it is a software with bugs. Would you be riding at 80 MPH on a software?

And Apple has neither the discipline or business process to ship relatively bug free software. Its kinda like building a space shuttle. You can't have marketing in absolute control and Ive removing functionality so it can be smaller if you want a product that works reliably. Its also not in Apple's DNA to make products that last more then a couple of years. Won't it be nice to know that you need to replace your car every 3 years to be safe and hacker free.

 

[Aston441]

We can't have a closed mind using current technical possibilities to limit development of ANYTHING.
Together with autonomous cars it will be necessary to adjust what drivers will be allowed to do. There will be laws, outcries of freedoms taken away. (Baloney, with all the restrictions we already have)

The speeding and reckless drivers will be curtailed as it is proven that if all traffic moves at the same speed there are less accidents,

Yes, we are only at the beginning and there is a lot to work out.

If somebody told you just 25 years ago that we would have PHONEs with todays capabilities and sizes you would probably just have said : Yeah, right!

You're phrasing it wrong. If someone had told me 25 years ago laptops would be available miniaturized to the size of my hand, with a cell phone built in, I would have said "of course."

 

[The.Outsider]

Can't Cook just get his head out of his ahem and focus on APPLE MACINTOSH computers again? Where are the updates for the MacMini, the Pro? All talk and when they finally deliver something new, they truly think it's worth the money on something that's overpriced and weak on the market of computers. Focus damn it, it's this and so many useless stuff they have been working on. TESLA is doing a great job in this, why compete with a titan when you can't even compete with other seriously more powerful computers that are cheaper than any Apple product out there. There is a level of insanity here I don't understand why people aren't reacting towards more negatively. Mac's have been dumbed down, thinned out and overpriced, the Operating Systems as well, they serve a bigger monetary organism now not the creativity an Apple once was destined to do. Now it's just "deal with it, you'll buy it anyway" More and more the iPhone is becoming a mess... sorry but no headphone jack stick? So we're forced to used adaptors and battery powered devices when we're supposed to go GREEN. Every lithium powered device is already a bad thing, so now we pollute even more with such additions. For every million iPhone that demands wireless speakers and headphones, just made it even less green. Whatever, I don't understand Apple anymore, it's not producing our wishes it's producing Products based on Obsolescence.. they have done this for a while and we keep throwing money at them like a cult.

 

[Thunderhawks]

You're phrasing it wrong. If someone had told me 25 years ago laptops would be available miniaturized to the size of my hand, with a cell phone built in, I would have said "of course."

I am not even sure I picked the right time span with saying 25 years.

As for the cars, in another 25 years people will just get into their cars, tell the car the address to go to and lean back.

 

[Applebot1]

Interesting looks like Apple want to be a platform provider and license it out imo.

 

[doelcm82]

selling a car makes no sense. Selling AI for a car also makes no sense. The car companies are going to want to have this be in house, proprietary technology so that they can 1) use it as a differentiating feature from competition 2) be in charge so that the burden for safety isn't on a third party company (normally you would think this burden they would love to put on someone else but if the technology is no good then their brand is at risk because of someone else's technology)

It makes sense if Apple succeeds and you look back on it the way we now look back on the iPhone.

But if you're living in 2005, an "iPod Phone" is just Apple trying to get into an industry that it knows nothing about and in which has no chance in succeeding

Conversely, humans are more prone to mistakes, as evidenced by the enormous number of auto accidents per year. As this technology gets better and better, you won't have to worry as much about the people around you.

Agreed. It's the people around you who are texting, or eating, or yelling at their kids when they should be focused on the road who are the real danger.
.

 

[MistrSynistr]

No one. In Life. Has ever asked for self driving cars.

LOL. This push is so bizarre to me. Who in the world would want this? These are like Red Light Cameras.

 

[DTphonehome]

Can't Cook just get his head out of his ahem and focus on APPLE MACINTOSH computers again? Where are the updates for the MacMini, the Pro?

All signs point to the Mac Mini being phased out. Mac Pro is coming in 2018 (late 2018 probably). iMac Pro is the stopgap until it's ready. I agree that they should have acknowledged the old Mac Pro's failure way earlier and got the new one out the door quicker, but at least they said they're working on it.

 

[MistrSynistr]

The last thing I would do is to let my car be driving by a software. It is going to fail. In the street you need skills. Is not of what you could do but about what every one else could be doing. On top of that... it is a software with bugs. Would you be riding at 80 MPH on a software?

No, because the software is going to govern you to a strict wimpy speed limit. So you'll be arriving at all your destinations hours later than expected.

This makes no sense.

 

[roblin]

They contacted me to work on a this project. Sent in my resume written in Pages(lol) which covered a lot of self driving car stuff as I was working in another SDC project for a major auto manufacturer. They did not contact me again so I assume they found someone or many better qualified. Heard the same story from some colleagues. I assume they have plenty of good people in the project, will be interesting to see what they deliver. Google had a big head start, but Apple is Apple...

 

[DTphonehome]

No one. In Life. Has ever asked for self driving cars.

LOL. This push is so bizarre to me. Who in the world would want this? These are like Red Light Cameras.

Tons of people are asking for self-driving cars. The human and financial cost (in lives and time lost) of human-driven cars is huge, and we are on the verge of a revolution that will completely upend the automotive industry as we know it. Anyone not trying to get a piece of what will be a massive business is foolish.

 

[satchmo]

Can't wait for the road rage videos between a bat swinging driver and driverless car.

 

[xalea]

Mother of all AI projects, lol.

"Siri, drive me to the airport."

...."I couldn't find Marjorie Jones in your contacts."

.......

 

[Rogifan]

The problem is not building the cars, but selling and repairing them.
Either they'll open thousands of Apple's service and repair garages across the world or they'll rely on other car makers for that.

The problem wouldn't exist if they didn't sell the cars to customers, but use them for a service like Uber. As far as I remember they invested money on a car riding service in China, so it might be their target

How does Tesla do it? The least of my concerns with this project is distribution and customer service. I'm still not convinced Apple can get the software to the point where people can trust it to be reliable 99.9999% of the time.