ASB2112-Influence of Autonomous Vehicle Technology on Businesses and S

You are expected to research both academic and non academic articles on autonomous cars and discuss their impact on businesses and society. What are the key issues related to autonomous cars and what are the opportunities for businesses? What are the potential problems? How will business need to adapt? How do you think organisations and society will transition to autonomous cars? 

Introduction

An autonomous or driverless car is referred to a robotic vehicle which is designed in a way that it allows travel between destinations without the requirement of a human operator or driver. In order to qualify as fully “autonomous”, it is necessary that the vehicle is able to navigate to different places without human intervention (Fagnant and Kockelman, 2015). An autonomous vehicle travels to a predetermined destination through roads which are not adopted or designed for its use. The advancement of technology has increased the market for autonomous cars, and most of the leading car manufacturers are investing in the technology. The autonomous vehicle technology has the potential to replace traditional vehicle industry in upcoming years. There are a number of benefits of autonomous vehicle technology such as saving of fuel, reduction in car crashes, hassle-free travel and others. This essay will focus on analysing the influence of autonomous vehicle technology on businesses and society. This essay will discuss the key issues, and challenges face by corporations relating to the autonomous cars and examine the potential problem related to the topic as well. Further, the report will evaluate how businesses will need to adapt and analyse how companies and society will transition to autonomous cars.

Impact of Autonomous Vehicle on Businesses and Society

‘The Guardian’ evaluates the potential impact of autonomous vehicle technology in the article called “Look ma, no hands: what will it mean when all cars can drive themselves”. In the article, Topham (2017) provided that Uber has entered into a billion pound business deal with Swedish car manufacturer Volvo to make autonomous vehicle future possible. The article evaluated how autonomous technology will have a substantial influence on a number of key players who are associated with this technology. Marshall (2017) stated in his research that autonomous vehicles could add $7 trillion to the global economy which proves its potential to change various aspects of the transportation industry. Popularity of driverless cars which influence businesses including technology companies, car manufacturers, online media and retailers, logistics firms, lithium miners and others. Topham (2017) provided that Google’s self-driving division (now called Waymo) is leading the autonomous vehicle technology. Morgan Stanley has valued the company at $70 billion (£52 billion) which shows its potential in the autonomous cars industry (Ohnsman, 2017). The deal between Uber and Volvo is another example; Uber is focusing on becoming the market leader in driverless taxi service by investing in autonomous vehicle technology. 

In March 2017, Intel bought an Israeli company which man

With the growing popularity of electric vehicles, the demand for lithium batteries will grow as well. According to the study of Transparency Market Research, the value of the lithium-ion market will double in next seven years up to $77.42 billion (Transparency Market Research, 2018). Along with positive impact, the popularity of autonomous cars will negatively affect many businesses and sections of society. For example, traditional car manufacturers have to change their business model as the number of household electric vehicles will grow. Currently, leading carmakers are hiring software and tech firms as the transportation industry changes. The surpassing of Tesla’s valuation over Ford and GM prove the negative impact of driverless cars on car manufacturing firms (Lee, 2017). Many studies have shown that requirement of motor insurance will reduce as well which will negatively affect insurance corporations. On the other hand, Nick Reed, Bosch’s head of mobility research, provided that model of motor insurance will change, instead of negatively affecting the firms (Topham, 2017). The requirement of service stations and hotels will be reduced as well if passengers get comfortable sleeping options in the autonomous cars.

The growth in autonomous car technology will influence different sections of society along with businesses. For example, more than one million people earn their wage by working as professional drivers, and they face the risk of losing their job if driverless cars become popular. Popularity of autonomous vehicle might result in increasing the unemployment rate which negatively affects a large number of people. The academic director of British Transport research, Richard Cuerden, argued that the requirement of professional drives will not eliminate and companies will hire them as a human backup in autonomous vehicles (Topham, 2017). Many taxi companies will also prefer to use drivers in order to add a human touch to the experience. The UK government has claimed to generate more than £46 billion from freezing fuel duty. The popularity of all-electric vehicles will result in reducing millions in revenue for companies. The revenue from traffic offence will reduce as well. The company also generated revenue of £750 million from parking in 2016, and autonomous vehicles will reduce this income as well. The reduction in revenue of the government will negatively affect the society because the government uses the money for public development (Litman, 2017). Therefore, the popularity of autonomous vehicles will have a substantial impact on different businesses and society. 

Issues and Opportunities relating to Autonomous Cars

The popularity of autonomous vehicles will result in increasing many issues for organisations and people. The key issue relating to autonomous cars is the safety of people. Various autonomous driving technologies have been developed by companies such as Tesla, Google, Intel, Uber, Nissan and others. The design details of these technologies vary, but most of them are created and maintained on an internal map of surrounding which remains same for each design. Driverless cars use sensors, radar, and lasers beams to analyse the road and work properly (Driankov and Saffiotti, 2013). These sensors enable the driverless vehicle to create a map of its surrounding and send such inputs to the software. The software then processes such inputs, plans a route, and then sends instructions to the car. These inputs control braking and steering and enable the car to avoid obstacles on the road. The problem with this system is that cybercriminals can hack into the software of the car and use it to hurt others. Cybercriminals can hack the software of autonomous car and control its functions such as brakes or steering. Lack of control over the car can lead to a number of negative impacts which can be dangerous for the driver as well as people on the road (Kumar and Michael, 2012). Autonomous cars did not have manual control for drivers such as steering or brakes which increases the risk as well.

One of the benefits of autonomous cars is that they are able to communicate with other cars and share information. For example, if a car is aware of an accident ahead on the road than it can share such information with other vehicles which can assist them in changing routes. But, the issue is that computers in autonomous vehicles will be able to transmit information to each other in areas of poor reception (Schoettle and Sivak, 2014). The sharing of information also raise people concern regarding sacrificing of their privacy because they cannot control the data shared between two autonomous vehicles. There are different ethical issues relating to autonomous vehicles as well. The key issue is that whether artificial intelligence (AI) is able to make ethical decisions just as humans. For example, a driver can choose either injure three people in a car or injuring a person on a motorcycle (Khanna and Barrett, 2017). But, it is difficult to evaluate whether artificial intelligence will be able to take an ethical decision in such situations. Unemployment is a serious issue relating to autonomous vehicles as well. There are more than one million professional drivers in the UK who drive for a living, and they will be unemployed after the popularity of autonomous vehicles. There are legal issues relating to autonomous vehicles as well such as who will be responsible in case of an accident.

Along with many issues, there are a number of opportunities as well relating to driverless car technology. The main opportunity is reducing in car crashes which improve the safety on the road. People in the car will be free during their commute which provides different opportunities to car manufacturers to entertain and advertise new products (Smith, et al., 2010). Car manufacturing companies can collaborate with online media and retailers to provide different services to people in their car such as movies, games or other forms of media. Technology companies have the main opportunity since they can offer a number of services to passengers, for example, the car can be connected with smart home, and it can remind people that they are running low on food supplies or others. Autonomous cars will enable car sharing, either from taxi fleets or when people are not using their cars. It will create new jobs as people will be required to clean up cars between users. Jobs relating to ride coordination personal support, customer service and others will increase as well. Driverless cars increase business opportunities for battery manufactures as the demand for lithium-ion batteries will grow (Dolgov, et al., 2010). The demand for insurance companies, lawyers, and brokers will increase as companies are required to meet and comply with new transportation standards. The autonomous vehicle technology will bring a number of opportunities for organisations and society but evaluate of issues relating to the technology is necessary as well.

Potential Problems

There are a number of safety and security risks relating to the autonomous vehicle technology which creates many potential problems. Driverless vehicles are heavily dependent on their software capabilities which can be hacked by cyber criminals to get an unfair advantage. The lack of ability of software to assess different locations is another problem relating to autonomous driving. For example, a driverless shuttle bus was being tested in Las Vegas, and it involved in a crash in just an hour from its testing. Although the crash was not resulted due to the fault of the vehicle, it shows how vulnerable autonomous technology is when compared to the current transportation system. The artificial intelligence used in driverless cars is unable to take ethical decisions in situations of ethical dilemmas (Bonnefon, Shariff and Rahwan, 2016). Terrorist groups and cybercriminals can use autonomous cars as a mode of spreading violence since they can hack and control its software directly through the internet. Unemployment is a serious problem linked with autonomous vehicles as well since it may eliminate the requirement of drivers who earn their living by driving people or goods from one place to another. There are a number of legal problems relating to autonomous vehicles as well as the courts have to decide whom to blame in case of an accident. These are a number of potential problems relating to autonomous cars which makes people and organisations sceptical regarding the technology. 

Adaptation of Autonomous Cars Technology by Businesses

With the growth in autonomous car technology, it is inevitable companies to avoid its impact on their businesses. Most of the leading market players such as GM, Ford, BMW, Audi and others are investing in this technology already, and some of them are launching them for customers use as well (Muoio, 2017). Therefore, a number of businesses have to adopt in order to support and get benefits of autonomous vehicle technology. For example, with the change in the transportation system, infrastructure requirements will change as well. The master plans created for car parking, airports, toll roads, high-speed trains and others are required to be modified in order to support autonomous vehicles (Khanna and Barrett, 2017). Effective roadmaps are necessary which puts human safety at the priority. The requirement of parking lots will decrease along with revenue relating to them as well. Car manufacturing companies are required to change their business model in order to stay relevant in the industry. They are required to collaborate with different technology companies in order to ensure that they offer different services through driverless vehicles. The role of energy companies will grow along with the popularity of battery-based electric vehicles. The companies are required to analyse how they can use vehicle-to-grid (V2G) model for distributing and storing energy. V2G system saves electricity by returning it back to the grid which saves energy and ensures that electricity is available for autonomous vehicles.

The hotel and motel industry will suffer substantially since people have the option to sleep in their car while they are travelling. Therefore, the hotel industry is required to change their business model in order to adapt as per the technology. The hotels and motels can offer unique services to their customers in order to attack them. For example, they can reduce parking costs and provide charging facilities for electric vehicles which is useful for people who are travelling to long distance. Also, autonomous cars cannot provide the comfort of a bed or services as a hotel to passengers that will encourage them to stay and relax at hotels. Similarity, insurance companies are required to change their business model in order to adapt as per the technology. Many studies have predicted that popularity of autonomous vehicles will reduce US auto accidents by 90 percent (Ramsey, 2015). People might avoid taking motor insurance in the future with the reduction in the risk of car accidents. Nick Reed, Bosch’s head of mobility research, stated that the model of insurance companies will change because people will always be sceptical about the technology. Jobs of professional drives will change as well, and transportation companies are more likely to use them as a backup in case of an issue. The business of auto parts manufactures will change as well. The study of PwC has shown that 50 percent of the automobile manufacturing costs will be relating to electronics which is just one third currently (PwC, 2013). These are different examples of how businesses need to adapt as per autonomous car technology.

Organisations and Society Transition to Autonomous Cars

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, has claimed that people are two years away from sleeping in their cars. Many experts estimate that first generation autonomous vehicle will launch around 2020. Most of the leading transportation companies such as Ford, GM, BMW, Mercedes, Audi, and others are investing heavily in the autonomous vehicle technology, and they are planning to launch new vehicles in upcoming years (Munster, 2017). The transition to autonomous cars will be led by transporting and technology companies. For example, Uber has entered into an agreement with Volvo in order to manufacture 24 thousand driverless cars by 2021. Similarly, Lyft is planning to build self-driving cars by collaborating with Magna, auto parts supplier (Hawkins, 2018). Heavy investments made by these companies prove that the future of autonomous cars is not far away and other businesses have to adopt as well. Google might be leading the autonomous car technology by licensing its driverless technology to car manufacturing companies. Waymo, autonomous car development firm started by Google, has been working from 2009 in order to provide self-driving cars to customers. Matt Johnson, Vice-President of Automotive MCU Group, has provided that there are three stage of transition to autonomous vehicles (Atelier, 2015). 

In the first stage, new cars will be launched by the companies with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and the blind spots of the system will be evaluated by corporations in order to improve its effectiveness (Reimer, 2014). In the second phase, humans will play the role of co-pilot, and autonomous vehicles will take over driving tasks. The sensors, radar and camera system of the cars will collect necessary data that will result in improving the overall performance of the technology. In the third phase, autonomous vehicle technology will be capable of handling and detecting any potential threat of the road even before human brain is able to analyse them (Gurney, 2013). At the same time, most of the organisations will change their business model in order to meet the requirements of driverless vehicles. In the beginning, passengers will be sceptical of the technology, and they will prefer some manual control over the vehicle, but slowly fully autonomous vehicles will start to enter the market. The car manufactures will require taking permission from the government in order to launch autonomous vehicles in new markets (Rousseau and Crane, 2015). On the other hand, governments will create new transportation laws to ensure that safety of the public is maintained. Therefore, the transition of organisations and society to autonomous vehicles will be completed in different steps in forthcoming years.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the popularity of autonomous vehicles technology is growing rapidly between corporations and society. Most of the leading car manufacturing companies are investing in the technology driverless technology and collaborating with technology companies to launch new autonomous vehicles in the market. The popularity of autonomous vehicles influences different parts of organisations and society, for example, increase in demand of lithium-ion batteries, reducing in the business of hotels and motels, government’s revenue, change in the business model of traditional car manufacturers and insurance companies. There are different potential problems relating to autonomous technology such as security, safety, privacy, and communication issues. Organisations are required to change their business model to avail opportunities relating to autonomous vehicles. The transition of organisations and society will complete in different steps. Improvement in technology relating to safety will assist in expanding the market of autonomous vehicles and making it a part of the society. 

References

Atelier. (2015) Transition to Autonomous Vehicles Will Go Through Several Stages. [Online] Atelier. Available at: https://atelier.bnpparibas/en/smart-city/article/transition-autonomous-vehicles-stages [Accessed 15^th March 2018].

Bonnefon, J.F., Shariff, A. and Rahwan, I. (2016) The social dilemma of autonomous vehicles. Science, 352(6293), pp.1573-1576.

Dolgov, D., Thrun, S., Montemerlo, M. and Diebel, J. (2010) Path planning for autonomous vehicles in unknown semi-structured environments. The International Journal of Robotics Research, 29(5), pp.485-501.

Driankov, D. and Saffiotti, A. eds. (2013) Fuzzy logic techniques for autonomous vehicle navigation (Vol. 61). Physica.

Fagnant, D.J. and Kockelman, K. (2015) Preparing a nation for autonomous vehicles: opportunities, barriers and policy recommendations. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 77, pp.167-181.

Gurney, J.K. (2013) Sue my car not me: Products liability and accidents involving autonomous vehicles. U. Ill. JL Tech. & Pol'y, p.247.

Hawkins, A.J. (2018) Lyft will build self-driving cars with top auto parts supplier Magna. [Online] The Verge. Available at: https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/14/17121186/lyft-magna-self-driving-car-announcement [Accessed 15^th March 2018].

Khanna, A. and Barrett, S. (2017) Hard Questions on Our Transition to Driverless Cars. [Online] Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/2017/04/hard-questions-on-our-transition-to-driverless-cars [Accessed 15^th March 2018].

Kumar, V. and Michael, N. (2012) Opportunities and challenges with autonomous micro aerial vehicles. The International Journal of Robotics Research, 31(11), pp.1279-1291.

Lee, T.B. (2017) How Tesla surpassed GM and Ford to become America's most valuable car company. [Online] Vox. Available at: https://www.vox.com/new-money/2017/4/4/15176904/tesla-ford-stock-price [Accessed 15^th March 2018].

Levy, A. and Kolodny, L. (2018) Self-driving cars take over CES: Here's how big tech is playing the market. [Online] CNBC. Available at: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/12/intel-cisco-and-amazon-introduce-self-driving-car-technology-at-ces.html [Accessed 15^th March 2018].

Litman, T. (2017) Autonomous vehicle implementation predictions. British Columbia: Victoria Transport Policy Institute.

Lunden, I. (2017) Intel buys Mobileye in $15.3B deal, moves its automotive unit to Israel. [Online] Tech Crunch. Available at: https://techcrunch.com/2017/03/13/reports-intel-buying-mobileye-for-up-to-16b-to-expand-in-self-driving-tech/ [Accessed 15^th March 2018].

Marshall, A. (2017) Robocars Could Add $7 Trillion To The Global Economy. [Online] Wired. Available at: https://www.wired.com/2017/06/impact-of-autonomous-vehicles/ [Accessed 15^th March 2018].

Munster, G. (2017) Here’s When Having a Self-Driving Car Will Be a Normal Thing. [Online] Fortune. Available at: https://fortune.com/2017/09/13/gm-cruise-self-driving-driverless-autonomous-cars/ [Accessed 15^th March 2018].

Muoio, D. (2017) RANKED: The 18 companies most likely to get self-driving cars on the road first. [Online] Business Insider. Available at: https://www.businessinsider.in/RANKED-The-18-companies-most-likely-to-get-self-driving-cars-on-the-road-first/articleshow/57996776.cms [Accessed 15^th March 2018].

Ohnsman, A. (2017) Morgan Stanley Sees A $70 Billion Self-Driving Startup In Alphabet's Waymo. [Online] Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2017/05/23/morgan-stanley-sees-a-70-billion-self-driving-startup-in-alphabets-waymo/#78868894755b [Accessed 15^th March 2018].

PwC. (2013) Spotlight on Automotive PwC Semiconductor Report. [PDF] PwC. Available at: https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/technology/publications/assets/pwc-semiconductor-survey-interactive.pdf [Accessed 15^th March 2018].

Ramsey, M. (2015) Self-Driving Cars Could Cut Down on Accidents, Study Says. [Online] The Wall Street Journal. Available at: https://www.wsj.com/articles/self-driving-cars-could-cut-down-on-accidents-study-says-1425567905 [Accessed 15^th March 2018].

Reimer, B. (2014) Driver assistance systems and the transition to automated vehicles: A path to increase older adult safety and mobility?. Public Policy & Aging Report, 24(1), pp.27-31.

Rousseau, J. and Crane, B. (2015) The Human Transition To Autonomous Vehicles. [Online] Artefact Group. Available at: https://www.artefactgroup.com/articles/the-human-transition-to-autonomous-vehicles/ [Accessed 15^th March 2018].

Schoettle, B. and Sivak, M. (2014) A survey of public opinion about autonomous and self-driving vehicles in the US, the UK, and Australia. Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI).

Smith, R.N., Chao, Y., Li, P.P., Caron, D.A., Jones, B.H. and Sukhatme, G.S. (2010) Planning and implementing trajectories for autonomous underwater vehicles to track evolving ocean processes based on predictions from a regional ocean model. The International Journal of Robotics Research, 29(12), pp.1475-1497.

Topham, G. (2017) Look ma, no hands: what will it mean when all cars can drive themselves?. [Online] The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/nov/25/autonomous-vehicles-when-all-cars-drive-themselves-what-will-it-mean [Accessed 15^th March 2018].

Transparency Market Research. (2018) Global Lithium-ion Battery Market: Leading Players Offering Dedicated Services to Customers at Reasonable Price, observes TMR. [Online] Transparency Market Research. Available at: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pressrelease/lithium-ion-battery-market.htm [Accessed 15^th March 2018].