One of the ways in which artificial intelligence promises to change our lives the most is surely in the automotive sector . The promise of self-driving vehicles has ramifications in many areas , from autonomous robotaxis to driverless freight lorries . But how far off is this future ?

The holy grail driving the frenzied competition between automotive manufacturers is the achievement of fully autonomous vehicles ranked level 5 on the Society of Automotive Engineers ( SAE ) Levels of Driving Automation Standard , meaning they are able to operate in all conditions without human interaction . To date , no solution has achieved that , with commercial offerings typically falling into levels 2 and 3 . Level 2 denotes a vehicle with automated steering and acceleration features , such as stay-inlane and self-parking , while level 3 is indicative of a vehicle capable of detecting the environment surrounding it to , for instance , overtake other vehicles . Many , then , were surprised when Elon Musk , head of electric vehicle firm Tesla , recently claimed that level 5 , fully autonomous Tesla vehicles could

SEPTEMBER 2020

Technology Magazine September 2020 | Page 62

We explore the ever-closer frontier of AI and machine learning in vehicles , pushed by the likes of Tesla and Waymo and chased by established manufacturers

One of the ways in which artificial intelligence promises to change our lives the most is surely in the automotive sector . The promise of self-driving vehicles has ramifications in many areas , from autonomous robotaxis to driverless freight lorries . But how far off is this future ?