Artificial Intelligence and Ford Motor Company

March 20, 2018, Kitchener, Ontario

Posted by: Robert Deutschmann, Personal Injury Lawyer

The Canadian International Auto Show highlights current and futuristic cars every year. Industry leaders also feature their plans for the future of driving in Canada. Driving becomes much simpler each year, however the technology behind simplicity is astounding.

A hundred years ago, cars were rare. They required cranking a handle to start them and were primitive in every respect. Safety was not even on the radar. They were considered the height of luxury and wealth. Debate raged whether travelling at speed would damage your internal organs.

Today, we take cars and safety for granted. In North America it is common to own more than one car. Getting a drivers licence is a right of passage for youth. We use cars without thinking for everything from going to work, to taking kids to soccer, to go on holiday. We don’t even think of them.

We rely on vehicles to ship our food, our consumable goods, and to take away our garbage. It’s incredible really. There is hardly anything that doesn’t rely on car transport. Up to this point though, it’s been human decision making and ability that have made cars move. This has all begun to change though with the advent of self driving cars and electric vehicles (EVs). Self driving cars require AI to make the decisions that we would once have made behind the wheel.

Mark Buzzell, President of Ford Canada recently gave an interview in which he indicated that while the government is pushing EVs, the general public still wants traditionally powered gas cars.  This points in large part to range anxiety in Canada, and to the difficulty and time involved in charging the batteries of EVs. Too many Canadians outside of the handful of major urban centres of Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal, face long drives on a regular basis. EVs are not yet well suited to a 6-8 hour drive to the cottage or to a regional health centre. They aren’t well suited to being stuck in slow traffic jams for hours. Their time will come of course, as Elon Musk continues to push battery technology. But for anyone who faces more than 4 hours of driving in a day we aren’t there yet.

Mr. Buzzell is first to admit that change is on the horizon though, and autonomous technology will become common sooner than later. No one can answer the question of when though. In preparation for that shift Ford has acquired and AI company in order to create a transportation mobility cloud for their fully autonomous vehicles that they have announced for 2021.

A massive cooperation will be required between governments and car makers in order to allow all cars, autonomous or not, to have common language and protocols for communication and safety. Autonomous vehicles will have to be able to ‘see’ all other cars on the road and coordinate movements with them. As fewer drivers will be on the road this communication between cars will facilitate the rerouting of cars in traffic and the coordination of ride sharing.

As I’ve said before, we are in exciting times. The planning and regulation changes required to allow this shift is astounding.

About Deutschmann Law

Deutschmann Law serves South-Western Ontario with offices in Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Woodstock, Brantford, Stratford and Ayr. The law practice of Robert Deutschmann focuses almost exclusively in personal injury and disability insurance matters. For more information, please visit www.deutschmannlaw.com or call us at 1-519-742-7774.

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