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  • 6 months ago
A journey in a driverless Waymo taxi in Phonenix, Arizona. The video was taken by Ben Lowry, editor of the Belfast News Letter, when he was going from an election voting station to his hotel. November 5 2024
Transcript
00:00Well this is extraordinary and so exciting. So I've just been at the
00:06pooling station over there, I called in for a quick subway, I then went to Uber
00:11and my goodness, I didn't even go for the fastest one I just went for the
00:18cheapest one because it was coming in seven minutes. So how do I get in?
00:24Gosh, I wonder what I have to do here. Oh my goodness, I had to unlock the car via my phone.
00:35This is extraordinary. I don't even know what to say hello to me.
00:42Hello. I almost feel, I wonder what I have to do. Oh, start right.
00:50Hello, I'm Waymo.
00:52There's nobody here. And I wonder how do they do a U-turn?
00:57They're just so clever. Oh, he doesn't even, he doesn't even need to do a U-turn.
01:02So keep your seatbelt fastened please.
01:07If you're traveling with little ones.
01:13So I went for the cheapest ride because it was coming in seven minutes.
01:18There was no need to go for a more expensive one, I wasn't in much of a hurry.
01:22And this is what has come. Wow, for eight dollars to go to my hotel where I will be
01:31watching CNN and Fox all night. Wow, it's made my night.
01:37I don't know where you can see that but it says arrival in five minutes because it is only a short ride.
01:48It's just fabulous. So this is going to be a big, big problem for human beings.
01:57There will be no taxi drivers.
02:00My taxi driver, so many different Uber drivers. Just yesterday was a guy who'd lost his business in Arizona
02:07during the recession 15 years ago. Had another guy who was an older student, had worked in various jobs.
02:16He was quite well qualified. They won't be able to do any of this.
02:21And of course I don't have to pay a tip. And I wonder whether he's listening to my conversation.
02:26I might decide to unlock the car and not let me out because I'm not paying the machine a tip.
02:44And the indicator on impeccable driving is slowing right down.
02:56Like a very, imagine this being a very mature, experienced, cautious, older driver.
03:05I have the slightest concern that he's going to crash, even though it's the only second time I've been in it.
03:15And the reason I don't is because it's been going now for years.
03:22And it probably has already an incomparably better accident rate than human beings on average.
03:30When I know where we are.
03:31I wonder what pop music is like. Play music.
03:37Like a vibe.
04:01Oh great, you see there's no human being to tell you you've left your bag.
04:23For your safety, the doors will remain locked when we arrive.
04:28Pull the handle twice to exit. The first pull unlocks. The second opens the door.
04:34I wonder where he decides to leave me. Oh, he's leaving me here.
04:38Across the road, but he knows that's an acceptable place to leave me.
04:41It's not too far. Sensible place for him to stop.
04:44You're here. Please make sure it's clear before exiting.
04:47Oh, that's a really complicated thing for the car to decide.
05:00There's nothing I have to do, it seems, except go out and close the door.
05:03There's nothing I have to do, it seems, except go out and close the door.
05:14There's nothing I have to do.
05:15Wait, wait, wait, did I close that enough?
05:20Did I close that enough?
05:28I did close it enough.
05:31Bye-bye!
05:33Bye-bye!
05:52Bye-bye! Thank you!
06:03Bye-bye!
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