Autonomy… will make mobility more efficient, but will also open up greater possibilities for dual-use applications and ways for a car to be more of a potential lethal weapon than it is today.
— the FBI on self-driving cars. In a report obtained by the Guardian, the FBI discusses the ways in which autonomous vehicles could be used by multitasking criminals who, say, could use both hands to shoot at their targets instead of having to deal with a pesky steering wheel. But what do you know, the FBI s crystal ball doesn t see all action-movie-like fun and games for the bad guys. The report also says: Surveillance will be made more effective and easier, with less of a chance that a patrol car will lose sight of a target vehicle.
When might we see the self-driving cops-and-robbers action? There have been varying predictions on when the technology and laws will align to allow mainstream adoption of autonomous vehicles, but the FBI expects it to happen in the next five to seven years.
Photo: A self-driving car at Google headquarters on Sept. 25, 2012 in Mountain View. (Getty Images archives)
