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Let’s Teach Kids About AI Self-Driving Cars, But Only In An Unbiased Way


What should kids know about the advent of self-driving cars?

Is it necessary to teach them about self-driving cars or is it something that isn’t worth bringing to their attention?

If kids are going to get taught about self-driving cars, who should do so and what will the instruction cover?

These are the kinds of questions beginning to percolate as the emergence of true self-driving cars appear to seem more likely and practical, particularly as the number of driverless car tryouts occurring on our public roadways continues to expand.

When self-driving cars were mainly being tested on proving grounds and closed tracks, there didn’t seem to be much cause to let kids know about the nature of such autonomous vehicles and nor was it a topic that many even were considering bringing up.

Now there’s a gradually increasing trend toward the belief that it is important to make sure that kids know about self-driving cars.

There are several reasons often cited:

·        Kids might be curious about self-driving cars and approach one that’s being tried out on their local streets, getting themselves into potentially harms way by rushing at one or trying to play tricks with it (for my coverage on how people are at times trying to trick driverless cars, see the link here).

·        Kids could end-up being a passenger inside a self-driving car, and ought to know how they should behave as a driverless car rider and what to watch out for (here are insightful tips on what it’s like to be a passenger in a driverless car).

·        Kids will likely be the backbone of the future widespread roll-out of self-driving cars, which will take place as they become adults, thus it would seem prudent and essential for them to be ready and well-equipped for that emergence (for aspects about Gen Z and driverless cars, see this link).

·        Kids today could be the inventors and breakthrough computer scientists and engineers of the future that will aid in progressing AI systems and self-driving cars into greater and greater levels of autonomy.

·        Kids could grow-up to become the regulators and policymakers of the future, ultimately shaping how and in what ways self-driving cars will become an integral part of society and our daily lives.

·        Etc.

Of course, kids already have a lot on their plates.

They are filled to the brim with classes on history, math, literature, science, art, and so on.

Much of the time, they are also involved in extracurricular activities and are continually going to sports practice or their piano lessons.

Society keeps shoving more and more at them, including off-the-beaten-path new wave stuff such as sessions on mindfulness, and on adulting, and a slew of other contemporary topics that we seem to think that kids need to know about.

As such, there are some that say it makes sense to make available educational material about self-driving cars but forcing kids to learn about driverless vehicles is a bridge too far.

For the moment, set aside the quarrelsome question about whether kids must be taught about self-driving cars, and let’s focus instead on the content and narratives that should be conveyed to kids, regardless of a mandated versus voluntary means of doing so.

Here’s the question of interest: What aspects of true self-driving cars are valuable to educate kids about and how should this be communicated?

Let’s unpack the matter.

The Levels Of Self-Driving Cars

It is important to clarify what I mean when referring to true self-driving cars.

True self-driving cars are ones that the AI drives the car entirely on its own and there isn’t any human assistance during the driving task.

These driverless vehicles are considered a Level 4 and Level 5, while a car that requires a human driver to co-share the driving effort is usually considered at a Level 2 or Level 3. The cars that co-share the driving task are described as being semi-autonomous, and typically contain a variety of automated add-on’s that are referred to as ADAS (Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems).

There is not yet a true self-driving car at Level 5, which we don’t yet even know if this will be possible to achieve, and nor how long it will take to get there.

Meanwhile, the Level 4 efforts are gradually trying to get some traction by undergoing very narrow and selective public roadway trials, though there is controversy over whether this testing should be allowed per se (we are all life-or-death guinea pigs in an experiment taking place on our highways and byways, some point out).

Since semi-autonomous cars require a human driver, the adoption of those types of cars won’t be markedly different than driving conventional vehicles, so there’s not much new per se to teach kids about, though they do need to understand the difference between driving a semi-autonomous car versus being in a true self-driving car.

For semi-autonomous cars, it is important that kids are forewarned about a disturbing aspect that’s been arising lately, namely that in spite of those human drivers that keep posting videos of themselves falling asleep at the wheel of a Level 2 or Level 3 car, we all need to avoid being misled into believing that the driver can take away their attention from the driving task while driving a semi-autonomous car.

You are the responsible party for the driving actions of the vehicle, regardless of how much automation might be tossed into a Level 2 or Level 3.

Self-Driving Cars And Realistic Expectations

For Level 4 and Level 5 true self-driving vehicles, there won’t be a human driver involved in the driving task.

All occupants will be passengers.

The AI is doing the driving.

One aspect that seems worthy of discussing with kids is that AI is neither magical and nor sentient (at least not yet, and unlikely to be so in their lifetimes).

Given the recent glorification of AI, some worry that kids will fall victim to the false belief that AI is somehow all-knowing and all-seeing, implying that it cannot make mistakes and that it is perfect in comparison to human driving.

There’s a small but inexorably growing push toward demystifying AI, thankfully, aiming to reset expectations about what today’s AI can and cannot realistically accomplish.

Such mystical empowered claims or implications come up whenever pundits favoring AI self-driving cars make outstretched claims, including for example that via driverless cars we’ll end up with zero fatalities.

This is a myth.

A car is still a car, even when it is a self-driving car.

If someone jumps in front of a self-driving car coming down the street and does so without sufficient advanced indication, the physics belie the idea that miraculously the self-driving car is going to avoid hitting that person. Until the day arises that self-driving cars can also fly, and skyrocket into the air if a pending crash is about to occur, the car is going to make an impact.

As I’ve said many times, zero fatalities, zero chance.

Before some of you get riled up, I’m not saying that self-driving cars aren’t going to likely reduce the number of fatalities and injuries associated with car travel. I firmly believe that the numbers will come down, way down, thankfully.

I also realize that aiming for zero fatalities is a worthwhile and admirable goal.

The rub is that telling people, and especially impressionable kids, the enchanting notion that self-driving cars will indisputably get us to zero fatalities is misleading and worse so sets false expectations.

Rather than promising Santa Claus like fables about self-driving cars, it would make more sense to be realistic with kids so that they get a proper and balanced perspective about self-driving cars and their future.

Consider one obvious and quite impactful reason to be more forthright with kids: If a child is led to believe that AI self-driving cars can do no wrong, in a child’s mind it could be mangled into thinking that there’s zero chance of a driverless car hitting them.

Suppose that a child is playing with a ball on the sidewalk and the ball rolls into the street and across the road.

After the ball comes to a rest, the child wonders whether to go across the street to get it.

Perhaps the child already knows from being warned that running into the street in front of an upcoming car is very dangerous. They are mindful of this and have always been cautious about crossing the street.

Imagine though that the child saw a poster or heard a commercial that touted how safe the upcoming self-driving cars are and that the AI is superhuman.

Perchance, a self-driving car begins to come down the street, and the child has no fear of crossing because they “know” that the AI will surely stop the driverless car.

The child darts into the street, doing so without the AI having sufficient time to detect the movement, and at the last moment the self-driving car rams on the brakes, but it is too late.

What happened?

The child was misled into believing that AI self-driving cars can do no wrong and will presumably never cause any deaths or injuries.

A child has no ready means to ferret out that this dogma is misleading and not always true, and furthermore the child might not have ever on-their-own thought that the AI would be so omniscient, but they heard about this on TV or via YouTube, and the child lacked the mental maturity to realize the flawed nature of the message.

In short, it would seem that a good reason to have education about self-driving cars for kids would be to help separate fact versus fiction.

A topper to that point is that the education itself should not be pushing the fiction more so than the fact.

I say this because there are some educational efforts being rolled-out that might make things worse rather than better.

If education about self-driving cars is filled with over-the-top claims and leaves false impressions with kids, it could potentially worsen things versus making them better.

For example, a child that already has been taught to watch out for cars would presumably be wary of any car, no matter whether human-driven or self-driving. The danger of a poorly designed and inadequately presented educational element about self-driving cars is that it could undermine the child’s rightful wariness of cars and have the child be willing to put themselves into dangerous situations.

I don’t think anyone wants that kind of outcome, at least I hope no one does.

Some of these emerging educational snippets about self-driving cars have perhaps not thought through the nuances of what to say and also how children will interpret those indications.

Safety first, I urge.

Self-Driving Cars And Indoctrination

Another qualm about some of the emerging educational wares about self-driving cars is that it could fall into the classic trap of being a form of indoctrination in an unsightly way.

The example of portraying AI as all-powerful is one kind of indoctrination that has adverse outcomes.

Another would be the easy to do one-sided view of self-driving cars.

The one-sided view is that driverless cars are going to solve all of society’s problems, offering mobility for all, and whisking us to here and there whenever we want.

Again, don’t get me wrong.

I agree and have stated repeatedly that self-driving cars will be transformative to how society operates. There will be increased access to mobility. Those that are today mobility marginalized or mobility disadvantaged will finally have a chance at mobility.

With kids, it’s tempting to portray a glowing and wondrous future, doing so in a Disneyland-like way.

There are though potential downsides and concerns about self-driving cars.

For example:

·        How will we know they are safe enough to drive us around?

·        Will the cost be prohibitive to use a self-driving car and therefore only the rich or elite be able to do so?

·        What will happen to the people that today depend upon driving as their livelihood, including ridesharing drivers, truck drivers, delivery drivers, and so on (this impacts millions upon millions of Americans that earn their living via driving)?

·        And so on.

Those that favor educating kids about self-driving cars are apt to immediately say that kids aren’t astute enough to comprehend those downsides and it will only confuse them.

Furthermore, such messaging might dampen enthusiasm by kids toward self-driving cars and would then ultimately spell the death knell for the emergence of self-driving cars due to youngsters growing up with hesitation and qualms about driverless cars.

For me, it’s all about age-appropriate educational aims.

Very young kids are certainly unlikely to be able to engage in deep discussions about the societal implications of self-driving cars, and thus the focus on self-driving cars is perhaps best shaped around simple safety practices.

Those at the youngest ages should be able to recognize a self-driving car versus a conventional car, which generally can be done by visually spotting the sensors atop the vehicle, though this is going to become less of a tell as advances make such sensors smaller and streamlined.

The crucial aspect, I assert, would be that they should be as cautious, if not even more so, around self-driving cars, and try to dispel any myths they might hold about AI and driverless cars, along with ensuring that no myths are promulgated in the act of educating them.

Children in older age groups can be involved in broader aspects and they are actually bound to be quite curious about what’s real versus what’s fake about self-driving cars.

Any watered-down educational elements that are used with the older age groups are going to be readily spotted by those kids, and they’ll then be turned-off by any patronizing approaches.

Not only would this be unfortunate for their potential safety, but it also might sadly undermine their youthful exuberance and sap their interest in helping to shape the future of driverless cars.

Self-Driving Cars And Adult Education

I believe everyone realizes these days that teaching a child something and doing so without also ensuring that the adults around them are also well-informed can be counterproductive.

This is worthwhile mentioning because the adult literacy when it comes to self-driving cars is rather low, which one cannot blame them about, particularly since there is so much fake news about self-driving cars (for more on the fake news, see this link).

A child that is taught something about self-driving cars might go home and have their parents or other adults tell them that what they were taught was wrong, even though (hopefully) it was indeed correct.

Or, the child might have misconstrued what they were taught, and upon telling their parents or other adults, those adults don’t know if what the child is telling them is right or not. The adults might assume that whatever the child says is the correct version, simply due to the fact that it came from an authoritative source that taught the child, and not realize that the youngster inadvertently misunderstood it.

My point being that we not only need to educate kids, we also need to educate adults too.

Weave Into Other Subjects

One middle school teacher contacted me and informed me that he has incorporated the topic of self-driving cars into some of his math class lessons, using one of my postings as a springboard.

This brings up the notion that it might be handy to dovetail self-driving cars into other coursework for kids.

The development of self-driving cars makes use of math skills, science skills, engineering skills, and the like.

It would be potentially interesting for kids to incorporate driverless car aspects into everyday class exercises and studies.

This could also be used in the social sciences when discussing the future of society.

As always, if driverless cars are going to be included, hopefully, the teachers doing so will be prepared properly and know enough about self-driving cars to aptly portray the matters being covered.

Example Of An Educational Effort

The AAA Northern California, Nevada, Utah association is participating in an educational effort with several other associations, including the Foundation for Blind Children, the National Safety Council, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the Foundation for Senior Living, and other partners to work with Waymo on developing lesson plans and materials for kids about self-driving cars.

It’s a campaign called “Let’s Talk Self-Driving” (here’s the link to the main site).

This AAA has augmented its overall AAA School Safety Lesson Plan to include a small segment about self-driving cars.

In a handful of slides, the added segment asks kids to think about how cars have increasingly included safety features, brings up how driver’s today are often distracted drivers due to using cell phones while driving, and offers tips on how to safely “interact” with a self-driving car (interaction in this case meaning at stop signs and when getting into and out of a driverless car).

The lesson plan material provides context for teachers and includes a set of handy questions for engaging kids in a discussion about the topic.

There are some parts that I like, along with a few parts that raised my eyebrows a bit, but overall this is laudable as an initial foray into trying to provide easy-to-use and readily obtained educational materials aimed at teaching kids.

I encourage all automakers and self-driving tech firms to likewise aid in putting together educational efforts for kids about driverless cars (of which several are already doing so or are planning to do so).

One overall hint, if I might, it will be preferred to keep at bay any brand-specific touting in such materials, though it is obviously tempting to do so, and of course, there is a suitable basis for mentioning brands but can be done in a well-balanced manner as a result of either their sponsorship or due to their prevalence on the roadways.

Enough said, I hope.

Conclusion

I’d bet that kids are going to be innately curious about self-driving cars, regardless of whether any educational efforts spring forth on the topic.

Thus, there’s inherent interest already and it will undoubtedly grow over time as more and more driverless cars are tried out on our roadways.

Like other societal related topics, do we want kids to have to randomly on-their-own try and figure out what driverless cars are, or would it be better to ensure that kids systemically have available the right kind of messaging that offers a fair, apt, and balanced understanding?

To clarify, I’m not suggesting this is quite as vital as say the educational efforts underlying the birds and the bees for kids, but merely trying to establish that the topic of self-driving cars is certainly deserving of some devoted attention.

People are often surprised when I mention that there are efforts afoot to help educate kids about self-driving cars. The typical reaction is something along the lines of “oh, well, that’s nice” and not much more.

Meanwhile, when talking to kids about self-driving cars, their eyes light up and they are eager to learn, which I suppose makes sense because they can already see ahead and realize that their future will be greatly shaped by the advent of driverless cars.

They are shrewd enough to want to know more, and for that, I say let’s make sure they can have their appetite properly fulfilled.



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