17 Nov Scientists: AI will free Beijing from traffic jams
Tech Wire Asia, September 20, 2016
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With a population of over 20 million, Beijing citizens face traffic congestion on a regular basis despite the government’s efforts to maintain a smooth traffic flow, such as tolls, car usage limitations, and public transport subsidies.
But top scientists believe that artificial intelligence (AI) could – and in the near future, will – solve this problem.
According to Sixth Tone, on Saturday, scientists said at a lecture at New York University’s Shanghai campus that autonomous vehicles will aide smoother traffic flow in less than a decade.
AI scientists are attempting to design self-driving cars that are able to drive smoothly and avoid sudden slowdowns and collisions that cause traffic congestion.
SEE ALSO: No more ‘carmageddon’: Can self-driving cars really end long city traffic jams?
According to Tsinghua University Professor Li Keqiang, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has outlined a plan that allows autonomous vehicles to access highways within three to five years, and city centers by 2025.
With today’s advancements in science and technology, this five-year prediction is certainly not impossible.
Bill Russo, automobile consultant from Gao Feng Advisory Company, said as it stands, full optimization of self-driving automotive technology is more a matter of regulation than science.
“Unlike other countries, China has the capacity to drive the market from the top down and create the right circumstances for self-driving cars,” Russo was quoted saying.
Therefore, the government needs to open more doors for self-driven and human-driven vehicles to operate side-by-side on roads, he said.
SEE ALSO: China’s Baidu gets California’s nod to test self-driving cars
Currently, self-driving cars are banned on public roads in China. Automobile players, however, view this restriction as a slowdown for the industry. Tech giants around the world like Google, Baidu and Alibaba, are already tapping into the automobile industry as their next business target.
As Forbes said last month, China “will be reluctant to forbid semi-autonomous cars completely.”
“The country has too much at stake, it has invested heavily in autonomous technology and urges its automakers and tech companies to develop autonomous cars,” it pointed out.
But after a number of fatal incidents, a ministry official in China recently said drivers could be held liable for accidents with advanced driver-assistance systems, a China Daily report said.
SEE ALSO: Singapore rolls out world’s first self-driving taxis, as Uber starts testing theirs
The report quoting China’s deputy head of Bureau of Work Safety Jin Xin said when fully autonomous vehicles hit the road, the manufacturer would become legally responsible for accidents.
But according to Yu Kai, founder of the Institute of Deep Learning – China’s first AI research and development center – the country’s automobile industry is anticipating the commercialization of autonomous vehicles as Chinese consumers are beginning to expect cars to be connected devices.
Yu also believes that self-driving cars could go on roads within 10 years.
“My focus is creating innovative technology to put in the car, to make the car independently intelligent.
“We are working with car manufacturers on how give their vehicles the ability to plan and make decisions, using a combination of sensors, processors, and algorithms,” Yu said, as quoted by Sixth Tone.
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