Week 6 - Autonomous cars are at it again

Driverless cars are once again in the news.  Japan, in an effort to reinforce their position as a tech leader, is looking to introduce driverless taxis in time for the 2020 Olympics.  One of the goals behind this initiative is to reduce the cost of current-day taxi services.  As it stands, 70% of the cost of taxis comes down to labor.  One minor issue that will need to be resolved comes out of the 1949 Geneva Convention, which states “Every vehicle or combination of vehicles proceeding as a unit shall have a driver.”  But consider this:  Tokyo reportedly has 50k taxis on the road today.  With driverless taxis on the forefront, plus who knows what else, this technology stands to take millions of people out of the workforce in the foreseeable future. 

http://qz.com/538758/japan-is-building-a-robot-taxi-service-with-thousands-planned-for-the-2020-olympics/