Description
Book SynopsisFrom famed automotive journalist Jason Torchinsky comes a witty insider’s guide to self-driving cars, the automated future, and the road ahead. Self-driving cars sound fantastical and futuristic and yet they’ll soon be on every street in America. Whether it’s Tesla’s Autopilot, Google’s Waymo, Mercedes’s Distronic, or Uber’s modified Volvo, companies around the world are developing autonomous cars. But why? And what will they mean for the auto industry and humanity at large? In Robot, Take the Wheel, Torchinsky, cofounder of The Autopian and former senior editor of Jalopnik, star of Jason Drives, and producer of Jay Leno's Garage, gives a colorful account of the development of autonomous vehicles and considers their likely implications. He encourages us to think of self-driving cars as an entirely new machine, something beyond cars as we understand them today, and considers how humans will get along with these robots that will take over our cars’ jobs, what they will look like, what sorts of jobs they may do, what we can expect of them, how they should act, ethically, how we can have fun with them, and how we can make sure there’s still a place for those of us who love to drive, especially with a manual transmission. This vibrant volume brimming with insider knowledge, humor, and original artwork pushes us to reconsider our understanding of cars, raises fascinating ethical questions, and compels us to act now to shape the automated future.
Trade Review“One of my favorite guests on the Tonight Show was an astronaut named Story Musgrave. Although not as famous as Neil Armstrong or Buzz Aldrin, Story was not only an astronaut, he was also a physicist, an academic, and a philosopher. He could translate space travel into words and pictures that people could really understand. I like to think of Jason as my automotive astronaut, able to take his experiences and really make the reader feel like they are riding along with him. Jason is a unique blend of dork, car guy, and intellectual all rolled into one.” —Jay Leno, host of Jay Leno’s Garage and former host of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno “Everything you wanted to know about autonomous vehicles but were afraid to ask. This delightfully written book by the longtime Jalopnik contributor is an essential guide to how driverless vehicles work—and how they have the potential to dramatically reshape society.” —Curbed “An interesting and light hearted look at what the future of autonomous vehicles might be like.” —The Gearhead Project “As car manufacturers and other companies race to develop autonomous vehicles, the need for a sherpa in the potential robot uprising is more pressing than ever. Torchinsky is that sherpa.” —Book & Film Globe “Robot, Take The Wheel is an entertaining yet serious examination of what automation is and how it applies to our favorite pastime: driving.” —Automoblog “It’s a great book. I encourage you to check it out.” —In Wheel Time “Jason Torchinsky’s Robot, Take the Wheel tops our list of must-read books for anyone interested in autonomous vehicles.” —Ground Truth podcast
Table of ContentsIntroduction
Chapter 1: We’ve Been Here Before
Chapter 2: How Did We Get Here
Chapter 3: How Do They Work, Anyway?
Chapter 4: Semi-Autonomy is Stupid
Chapter 5: They’re Robots, Not Cars
Chapter 6: Ethics, Behaviors, and Being Better Humans than People Are
Chapter 7: They Shouldn’t Look Like Cars
Chapter 8: The Death of the Journey
Chapter 9: Will They Be Like Your Dog
Chapter 10: Save the Gearheads
