[maxerickson]

If autonomous systems reach the point where they are measurably safer than human drivers, there's an obvious benefit to using them.

Again it's an if, but lots of people drive long distances and don't enjoy it. An autonomous vehicle would relieve them of the driving task. It would also add a transport option for people that are unable to drive long distances.

It's likely to reduce the cost of taxi like services, as drivers are currently a significant portion of those costs (autonomous driving turns pricing into almost a pure calculation about return on investment).

I guess you might dismiss those as not being "legit" enough since they are all contingent on the systems working well.

[DisruptiveDave]

No, I'm with you here. Just thinking through the other side of some of these. Lost jobs. Not sure "safety" is a big enough issue here. On a larger scale, I'm significantly concerned that society (thru tech) is becoming increasingly optimized for comfort and safety. That bothers me. It removes so much of what is good about life. I don't want guaranteed life until 100. I don't want comfort all the time; that stunts growth. There is a lot of grey area here, of course. But this has been on my mind for a while now.

[solean]

Losing truck driving jobs isn't removing what is good about life. Neither is too much safety. The people whose lives are being saved by technology aren't worrying about having too much safety. Only those who are privileged and don't have to worry about anything, realistically.