Ford investing a billion in Pittsburgh based company (Oxford, Lawrenceville: renting, new home)

[bluecarebear]

but Argo AI will be smooshed into the automaker’s existing robotics unit (with staff in the hundreds), doing work in Pittsburgh (home to Carnegie Mellon), Michigan, and Silicon Valley.

https://www.wired.com/2017/02/eyeing...1b-ai-startup/

Argo AI plans to have 200 employees by year's end. They will be split between Silicon Valley, Michigan and Pittsburgh

http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/10/tech...ars/index.html

[bluecarebear]

Originally Posted by Arnold Slick

Great news, this should really make Pittsburgh the hub of this type of research for the time-being right? Anyone else have the likes of a Uber research facility dedicated to the technology as well as a purpose-built test track and driverless cars already all over the roads collecting data? And now Ford coming in and of course CMU is hard at work on the technology as well. Wow.

I was thinking about this driverless car thing the other day, and what if you are the passenger in one and you just want to go for a casual drive and explore things as you come across them. Will there be a simple voice command to tell it exactly where to turn and when? What if you want to slow down a little bit to read a sign or to admire a beautiful house on an empty country road? What if you have a baby that falls asleep easily in the car and sometimes you just go for a little drive to make her sleepy?

From what I have read, the cars and trucks will be for Uber and the trucking industry. Basically a way to switch to automation and get rid of the cost of human drivers. I bet Ford is drooling at the thought of being the main fleet supplier for taxi companies. After that, the car industry may move on to personal transportation. So this is really not good news since millions of people will be out of jobs. Don't believe that Uber and Ford are doing this to better the lives of the average joe. This is pure corporate greed.

[bluecarebear]

Uber only ramped this research up when employees started wanting better pay, benefits, and threatened Uber with a union.

[WhoIsStanwix?]

Automation has been displacing labor since the invention of the first tool. It used to take 4+ men to carry an emperor around town on a chair. Now it takes 0 or 1 additional people. Get a grip, man. Technology will continue to move forward. It is up to the population to adapt, acquire the skills needed in a new economy, and figure out a division of labor.

I was driving through the Eisenhower tunnel just outside of Denver in the Rockies about a week ago in a snowstorm. We are a long ways away from self-driving trucks being able to manage those conditions and that is on a major interstate.

[prnlvsxy]

Originally Posted by bluecarebear

From what I have read, the cars and trucks will be for Uber and the trucking industry. Basically a way to switch to automation and get rid of the cost of human drivers. I bet Ford is drooling at the thought of being the main fleet supplier for taxi companies. After that, the car industry may move on to personal transportation. So this is really not good news since millions of people will be out of jobs. Don't believe that Uber and Ford are doing this to better the lives of the average joe. This is pure corporate greed.

Not sure if this is meant to be funny or not, but how does R&D equate to corporate greed? This is just another move of the economy shifting. It's moving from low skilled labor (truck driving) to skilled labor (engineers). That's just progress, and there's not really much of anything that can be done to stop it.

[bradjl2009]

No matter the story, this troll will make a ridiculous statement and turn the thread negative. Let's not feed it.

[jea6321]

Originally Posted by bluecarebear

Uber only ramped this research up when employees started wanting better pay, benefits, and threatened Uber with a union.

do you honestly believe that? come on. this wasnt some reactionary decision. These types of multi billion dollar programs are being planned out and developed years before the general public hear about them.

[WhoIsStanwix?]

Self driving snow plows would be nice.

[bluecarebear]

Originally Posted by prnlvsxy

Not sure if this is meant to be funny or not, but how does R&D equate to corporate greed? This is just another move of the economy shifting. It's moving from low skilled labor (truck driving) to skilled labor (engineers). That's just progress, and there's not really much of anything that can be done to stop it.

Just a sad thought on the time we live in. I'm not a big fan of large corporations and conglomerates. It is my belief that almost all are only run with the goal to make a few billionaires.

[bluecarebear]

Originally Posted by jea6321

do you honestly believe that? come on. this wasnt some reactionary decision. These types of multi billion dollar programs are being planned out and developed years before the general public hear about them.

Yes, I do believe that. Uber cut back on the amount employees could make too. Yes, these plans have been in place for years but I most definitely believe that Uber fast tracked the goal to automate once the employees started wanting better treatment. Think about how much money Uber will make when they get rid of all the drivers.