Vision alone fails pretty frequently even with a human brain and 700 million years of evolution behind it. Count me as a skeptic that cameras + computer will produce a safe self-driving system.
Really doesn't though. Humans are pretty good at driving, and 90%+ of accidents come from people being drunk/distracted/tired etc. We don't crash because we miss categorize a truck as a plastic bag or w/e.
Sure, but only about 0.000014% of that time occurred while cars existed. It's not like we evolved to control big metal objects hurtling down artificially made flat surfaces.
On the other hand, while our brains did not evolve to control cars, our cars were designed to be controlled by our brains. A system designed from scratch for autonomous vehicles would look radically different.
And even then, accidents where all parties are following the rules, e.g. being sober, undistracted by something in the car, giving enough stopping distance to the vehicle you're following, going the appropriate speed for the visual and road conditions, &c aren't the norm. Most accidents happen because somebody was irresponsible, usually blatantly.
...with devices that we're emotionally and physically addicted to flashing and making noises that are designed to ignite a flurry of activity in our reptilian brains sending the message PAY ATTENTION TO ME IMMEDIATELY!
This implies that the vision itself is to blame and ignores the actual causes of crashes.
A computer doesn't get distracted by a text message. A computer doesn't get drunk. A computer doesn't day dream.
Cases where a crash happens and the person at fault says something like "I didn't see them!", it's usually because they didn't even look, a mistake a computer won't make.
