GM to Run Robot Cars Without Human Backups

2020年11月2日
8 Advanced Science & Technology USA & Americas

Exercise 1
Vocabulary
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autonomous 形容詞
/ɔːˈtɑːnəməs/ not needing human control in order to work

Some drones are completely autonomous.

unit 名詞
/ˈjuːnɪt/ a department within an organization that does a particular type of work

The unit that I work in processes all of the company's mail.

backup 名詞
/ˈbækʌp/ a person or thing that can be used if necessary

We need a backup plan in case something goes wrong.

move 名詞
/muːv/ an action taken in order to achieve something or solve a problem

He's thinking about his next move.

conservatively 副詞
/kənˈsɜːrvətɪvli/ in a way that avoids risks or mistakes

He runs the company far more conservatively than the previous CEO.

Exercise 2
Article

GM to Run Robot Cars Without Human Backups

General Motors' autonomous vehicle unit, Cruise, says it will remove human backup drivers
from its vehicles in San Francisco by the end of the year.

Cruise CEO Dan Ammann said that the company received a permit on October 15 from
California's Department of Motor Vehicles to let the cars travel on their own.

The move followed an announcement from Waymo that it would open its autonomous ride-
hailing service to the public in the Phoenix area in vehicles without human drivers.

Waymo, a unit of Google's parent company Alphabet Inc., is hoping to eventually expand the
service into California, where it already has a permit to run without human backups.

Cruise has reached the point where it's confident that it can safely operate without humans in
the cars, spokesman Ray Wert said. A date has not been set for starting a ride service, which
would require further government permission, he said.

Cruise will go neighborhood-by-neighborhood in San Francisco and introduce the driverless

vehicles slowly before spreading to the entire city, he said. It will hold neighborhood
meetings to answer people's questions, he said.

"We understand that this is a trust race as much as it is a technology race," Wert said.

Steven Shladover, a research engineer at the University of California, Berkeley, said the moves
are the next logical steps for Waymo and Cruise, which are considered among the leaders in
autonomous vehicle technology.

Both Cruise and Waymo design their vehicles to drive more conservatively than humans, but
development still needs to progress safely, Shladover said. He noted that Cruise will start in
easier areas of San Francisco before moving on to more complex traffic situations.

Exercise 3
Discussion
1. What are your thoughts on GM's decision to remove human backup drivers from its
vehicles in San Francisco?

2. How would you react if driverless vehicles were allowed in your town or city?

3. Do you expect self-driving cars to become commonplace within your lifetime? Why?
Why not?

4. How often do you use ride-hailing services?

5. Have you been to San Francisco? If so, could you see yourself living there? If not,
would you like to?