The attachments of ‘autonomous’ vehicles

Bibliographic Data

ID11923940
AuthorsChris Tennant (0000-0002-2372-0487, University College London, London, UK, corresponding author), Jack Stilgoe (0000-0002-5787-2198, University College London, London, UK)
Year2021
Volume51
Issue6
Pages846-870
Publication date2021-08-14
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Studies of Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0306-3127 • E-ISSN: 1460-3659
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/03063127211038752
PMID34396851
OpenAlexW3194650281
LanguageEN
Citations received20
References cited50

The ideal of the self-driving car replaces an error-prone human with an infallible, artificially intelligent driver. This narrative of autonomy promises liberation from the downsides of automobility, even if that means taking control away from autonomous, free-moving individuals. We look behind this narrative to understand the attachments that so-called 'autonomous' vehicles (AVs) are likely to have to the world. Drawing on 50 interviews with AV developers, researchers and other stakeholders, we explore the social and technological attachments that stakeholders see inside the vehicle, on the road and with the wider world. These range from software and hardware to the behaviours of other road users and the material, social and economic infrastructure that supports driving and self-driving. We describe how innovators understand, engage with or seek to escape from these attachments in three categories: 'brute force', which sees attachments as problems to be solved with more data, 'solve the world one place at a time', which sees attachments as limits on the technology's reach and 'reduce the complexity of the space', which sees attachments as solutions to the problems encountered by technology developers. Understanding attachments provides a powerful way to anticipate various possible constitutions for the technology

Autonomy · Control (management · Human–computer interaction · Ideal (ethics · Narrative · Political science · Sociology · Computer Science · Ethics and Social Impacts of AI · Innovative Human-Technology Interaction · Law · Mobile Crowdsensing and Crowdsourcing · Artificial Intelligence

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