The technology is here; it is in operation, but why Google? We are talking about the self-driving car. Google announced that it has self-driving cars in operation and they have logged over 140,000 miles, in and around California.
Great.
But what is it for? No doubt, this would be coming; self-driving cars are a technology that can free up drivers, turning them into passengers. This would allow them to concentrate on other things, like work or family or some other recreation. The question is, what is Google up to? Aren’t they a search company? How does a self-driving car fit into their corporate vision?
According to Google’s Sebastian Thrun,
“Our goal is to help prevent traffic accidents, free up people’s time and reduce carbon emissions by fundamentally changing car use.
So we have developed technology for cars that can drive themselves. Our automated cars, manned by trained operators, just drove from our Mountain View campus to our Santa Monica office and on to Hollywood Boulevard. They’ve driven down Lombard Street, crossed the Golden Gate bridge, navigated the Pacific Coast Highway, and even made it all the way around Lake Tahoe.”
OK. But that is a far cry from Ad sales and search engines. However, Google may have other things in mind. Like robotic research. Right now, Google is spending a lot of capital on Google maps by going around the world and mapping locations, roads, intersections and the like. All of this is done so that their search engines can provide an overwhelming amount of information to consumers.
If they are at the beginnings of robot research, they may be looking at developing a branch of research that will allow them to change their focus from search to artificial intelligence. Can a smart robot be their next goal? Perhaps they feel that they can help develop an new line for their search engine result, one where a smart robot has all of the answers.
