&Audi Initiative’s SocAlty Study Addresses Central Issues of Autonomous Driving
As part of the &Audi initiative, the SocAlty study tackles concerns about liability, ethics, and security that are relevant to the future of autonomous driving.
Mercedes will be the first automaker to sell a vehicle with level 3 autonomous driving capability. The company has plans to introduce the new model sometime next year. Fellow German automaker Audi has now released a 70-page SocAlty study by the &Audi initiative, which addresses central issues about the future of autonomous driving. Earlier in September, SEMA markets research revealed that 58% of consumers want safer cars, but a large majority of them also have strong reservations against fully autonomous cars.
CEO of AUDI AG, Markus Duesmann shared his thoughts on the new study. “After electromobility, the next, clearly more radical change is the transition to more intelligent and, ultimately, autonomous vehicles,” said Duesmann. He further added, “For us, autonomous driving is a key technology that can help make traffic safer and mobility more comfortable and inclusive.”
Nineteen internal and external experts from the field of science, policies, and economics contributed to the study. They discussed different social dimensions of autonomous driving. The study tackles three focal points.
- Law and progress: A chapter that discusses concerns regarding liability on a global level.
- Relationship of trust between human and machine: Dives into the ethical implications.
- Network security: Deliberates over security and data protection-related concerns.
SocAlty proposes that in addition to producing more solutions, 2030’s mobility landscape will also be more compartmentalized and diverse. Especially in large cities like New York, Shanghai, and London.
The project manager for the &Audi Initiative at AUDI AG, Saskia Lexen highlighted the automaker’s objective behind the SocAlty study. “All in all, the result is an image of a mobility landscape that will look different in 2030 from what it looks like today, but will manage without science fiction,” said Lexen. She further added, “So Audi wants to establish appropriate expectations for the possibilities and limits of technology in society and to create trust.”
The study claims that the world’s largest EV market, China will be responsible for widespread technology penetration and scaling. The United States will become the most influential entity when it comes to defining autonomous driving technology. Europe’s regulations regarding data protection and consumer rights will impact product standards on an international level. Lastly, the study also proposes that the adoption of autonomous driving technology will be a gradual process. In addition to learning new rules, road users will also have to develop a relationship with the technology.
Image Source: Audi
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