Autonomous Driving, Once a Dream Technology, Now Enters Everyday Life (op-ed)
# Autonomous Driving, Once a Dream Technology, Now Enters Everyday Life
From September 26, 2024, autonomous taxis have been running in the demonstration area of Gangnam, Seoul. Seoul City and Kakao Mobility have started operating autonomous taxis. The operating hours are from 11 PM to 5 AM on weekdays, and the current operating areas are Yeoksam-dong, Daechi-dong, and Seocho-dong.
As this is a demonstration operation, there are no charges. To ride an autonomous taxi, users can call it through the taxi-calling smartphone app 'KakaoT'. Autonomous taxis will be displayed when setting the departure and destination points within the demonstration area.
However, "autonomous driving" doesn't mean there's no driver. For safety, a driver must always be present, but the basic driving is done by the car itself. The driver sitting in the driver's seat does not operate the steering wheel or pedals - the car automatically drives, stops, signals, and turns. However, in children's protection zones where autonomous driving is prohibited, the driver must drive directly. At such times, the car requests manual driving and hands over control to the driver.
Currently, only three autonomous taxis are deployed for the demonstration. As such, it's not easy to catch a ride. Seoul City plans to expand the operating areas to Nonhyeon-dong, Sinsa-dong, Apgujeong-dong, and Daechi-dong by the first half of 2025, and transition to paid services.
Moreover, taxis without steering wheels and pedals have also emerged. American electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla unveiled a prototype of a fully autonomous taxi called 'CyberCab' on October 10th. Instead of a human, AI drives the taxi, hence called a 'robo taxi'. As a result, the steering wheel and pedals have disappeared from the driver's seat. Only a display and seats have been installed, indicating Tesla's confidence in AI autonomous driving.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced mass production of CyberCab by the end of 2026, with a price of under $30,000 per unit. Tesla also announced plans to launch 'RoboVan', an autonomous bus that can carry up to 20 passengers and cargo.
It's not just Tesla. Google's subsidiary Waymo has started commercial autonomous taxi services in some U.S. cities. Baidu, the Chinese search company, has expanded its autonomous taxi services to 10 cities in China.
The article continues to discuss the six levels of autonomous driving, technological details, global developments, potential benefits, and challenges such as safety concerns, cybersecurity risks, job displacement, and legal responsibilities.
## Six Levels of Autonomous Driving
Autonomous driving, once considered a dream technology, has now firmly entered our daily lives. Autonomous driving literally means a car driving itself without a driver. To achieve this, the car must be able to independently recognize and judge road conditions, signals, and obstacles, and then control the vehicle. Various devices and software installed in the car perform these roles.
Surrounding environment recognition is done by video cameras, LiDAR, and radar devices. LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) is a device that fires millions of laser beams per second to perceive the surrounding environment, while radar shoots radio waves to detect surroundings. The software and AI are responsible for interpreting these detected surroundings and controlling the car. AI controls autonomous driving, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), lane-keeping devices, and drives the car.
One common misunderstanding is that autonomous driving is only possible with electric vehicles. In fact, if various devices, equipment, and software necessary for autonomous driving are installed, existing internal combustion engine vehicles can also become autonomous.
The American Automobile Society (SAE) classifies autonomous driving into six levels from 0 to 5. Level 0 is manual driving, while levels 1 and 2 are driver-assistance levels. This includes collision warnings when reversing and cruise control that maintains a certain speed and lane during long-distance driving.
Levels 3 and above correspond to what people recognize as autonomous driving. The car drives itself, with the driver intervening only in special situations. Level 4 means the car can operate without a driver in specific areas like highways, and Level 5 is complete autonomous driving where the car can judge and drive in all driving environments without human intervention. The autonomous taxi currently being demonstrated in Gangnam, Seoul, falls between levels 3 and 4.
## Autonomous Driving Introduced Worldwide
With the breakthrough development of autonomous driving technology, countries around the world are preparing to introduce it. Famous automobile manufacturers and giant IT companies like Google, Tesla, and Microsoft have already jumped into autonomous driving development. According to the overseas market research firm Precedence Research, the global autonomous driving market is expected to reach $236 billion by 2032.
The United States has been conducting pilot operations of autonomous driving in over 30 states including Nevada, Michigan, California, and Florida since 2011. Arizona was the first in the world to approve a driverless autonomous service without a driver in 2015.
Significantly, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) changed regulations in 2022 to no longer require mandatory installation of manual control devices in fully autonomous vehicles. This means steering wheels and pedals do not need to be installed in the driver's seat. Tesla's introduction of CyberCap is not without reason.
China is also an indispensable country in the autonomous driving field. In 2021, China designated 16 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Wuhan as autonomous driving pilot cities. Especially in Beijing, Chongqing, and Wuhan, level 4 completely driverless autonomous taxi services have been permitted.
South Korea has also started level 4 fully autonomous driving tests. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport approved the country's first unmanned autonomous driving test in June, and the domestic startup Rideflux plans to test unmanned autonomous vehicles in Sangam-dong, Seoul this year.
## Why Autonomous Driving?
Autonomous driving can fundamentally transform transportation services. With fully autonomous driving, people might shift from owning cars to using them as a service. It would be like subscribing to Netflix, but for autonomous vehicles.
The commercial vehicle sector - buses and trucks - is likely to be the first to introduce subscription services. Buses and trucks that transport passengers or cargo typically operate 12 to 24 hours, requiring three-shift workforce. Therefore, transportation and logistics companies are highly likely to adopt autonomous driving services to reduce labor costs. Moreover, buses and freight trucks have the advantage of operating on fixed routes, making autonomous driving easier to implement.
The industry anticipates that unmanned autonomous driving will be applied to commercial vehicles faster than passenger cars. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to commercialize autonomous driving services for commercial vehicles within 2-3 years. Startups like Rideflux are considering subscription-based autonomous driving services, providing autonomous driving software to transportation companies for monthly fees. To this end, Rideflux is preparing to manufacture commercial vehicles with autonomous driving equipment in collaboration with some automobile manufacturers.
In the passenger car sector, fully autonomous driving with subscription services could solve various urban problems. A prime example is parking challenges. Passenger cars spend more time parked than actually driving. Essentially, people buy cars to park them. By using autonomous driving services instead of owning cars, parking space requirements would decrease, reducing related costs and alleviating parking difficulties.
Some entrepreneurs, like Rideflux's founder Park Jung-hee, emphasize treating automobiles as public resources. By calling and using vehicles as needed without ownership, one can reduce environmental issues, parking fees, insurance costs, and other expenses. Additionally, it could reduce traffic accidents caused by drunk driving or elderly drivers with diminished cognitive abilities.
## Challenges to Overcome
However, autonomous driving faces significant challenges. Safety is the primary concern. A recent safety issue is "phantom braking," where autonomous vehicles suddenly brake hard without any actual emergency. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is currently investigating this phenomenon.
Since software, not humans, controls vehicles, software hacking and malfunction risks exist. In the U.S., there have been incidents like a Tesla vehicle hitting a motorcycle due to program malfunction, and a Google autonomous vehicle colliding with a bus after incorrectly changing lanes. GM's Cruise autonomous taxi also caused a traffic accident in San Francisco last year, leading to an eight-month service suspension.
Cybersecurity is particularly serious. According to a 2024 automotive cybersecurity report by Israeli security firm Upstream Security, dark web activities related to car hacking increased by 165% last year. At the international hacking conference Pwn2Own in Vancouver, researchers from the French security firm Synacktiv demonstrated hacking a Tesla and remotely opening car doors and trunk in just two minutes.
Hacking is directly linked to information leakage. Autonomous vehicles collect and learn from various information during operation. If this collected information is leaked overseas through hacking, it could become a significant problem. For instance, if North Korea were to hack information from autonomous vehicles in Seoul, it would directly relate to national security concerns. Due to such worries, the U.S. Department of Commerce is considering regulations on Chinese software and hardware use in autonomous vehicles operating in the United States.
The introduction of autonomous vehicles in transportation sectors like buses, trucks, and taxis will inevitably reduce jobs. From a transportation company's perspective, autonomous vehicles allow 24-hour operation while cutting labor costs. Society must consider how to address the resulting job losses.
Another challenge is determining legal responsibility. In cases where an autonomous vehicle causes an accident, who bears responsibility? With multiple involved parties like vehicle manufacturers and service companies, and different software and equipment, clearly identifying responsibility is complex. Compensation could be difficult, and insurance application problematic. Therefore, the government needs to proactively establish relevant laws and systems.
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