The better an automated system performs, the more complacent – and dangerous – we become behind the wheel
When you ask humans to supervise automated systems, their attention inevitably starts to wander – and the better the automated system, the more complacent we become. Photograph: iStockAs I climbed under the kitchen table with my five-year-old this weekend, she explained that we were in a car, but “it can drive itself, so we can just relax, OK?”. We settled down for a pretend nap on the way to the pretend beach.
Yet this halfway-house, which relies on humans and machines, is proving troublesome. And it is trouble worth noting, even if you have no interest in cars, because other sectors are also beginning to embrace the concept of automated “co-pilots” to help everyone from coders to doctors.Dave Hannigan: Katie Taylor’s presence lends a modicum of dignity to sporting farragoThe big problem is known as “automation complacency”.
Studies of various partial-automation systems have found that drivers become increasingly likely to disengage the longer they use them. In the US, the National Transportation Safety Board has blamed automation complacency for a number of car crashes. In follow-up interviews, the drivers said they saw the object coming, but they trusted the car to deal with it, at least until it was too late. “Even if you write very clearly in the manual, ‘the car cannot see these objects’ and you show them pictures, once they get out on the road – for some people ... it seems like they can’t help trusting the car.”
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