AVs need to be ‘100 to 1,000 times better than humans’, says Intel

Autonomous vehicles (AV) need to have a robotic system which is better than a human driver, because society will not accept machines killing people, according to Intel. Speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show 2019 in Las Vegas, Intel senior vice president Amnon Shashua said AVs probably need to be 100 to 1,000 times better than the human experience - which presents the question of how to validate such a system. “When you do your calculation, the amount of data you need to collect to verify somethi
January 14, 2019 Read time: 2 mins
Autonomous vehicles (AV) need to have a robotic system which is better than a human driver, because society will not accept machines killing people, according to 4243 Intel.


Speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show 2019 in Las Vegas, Intel senior vice president Amnon Shashua said AVs probably need to be 100 to 1,000 times better than the human experience - which presents the question of how to validate such a system.

“When you do your calculation, the amount of data you need to collect to verify something at a certain probability is one over that probability. If you do the calculation correct, comparing it to humans, the probability is that it will be billions of miles you will need to collect,” he added.

Shashua emphasised that a balance is needed between over-regulation and under-regulation is needed and that the US suffers from the latter.

Chris Urmson, co-founder and CEO at Aurora, insisted that the 324 US Department of Transportation has been supportive of the technology.

“I think it’s more about a thoughtful approach to talking about the safety regulations. Intel and 4279 Mobileye have done a good job at putting forward a first thought about this with the RSS (Responsibility-Sensitive Safety) and I think we need to have more of that kind of conversation,” Urmson added.

Both companies are part of the newly formed PAVE coalition, a group of private sector companies, academic institutions and other stakeholders whose stated ambition is to educate the public and policy makers on AVs.

Deborah A.P. Hersman, president and CEO of the National Safety Council, said: “It's in the best interest of the industry to engage with mobility advocates and other organisations and have a diverse group of stakeholders at the table because those differences will help create a positive path forward.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • ITSA’s Shailen Bhatt looks to the future
    March 6, 2018
    The new boss of ITS America is fizzing with ideas. Shailen Bhatt talks to Adam Hill about the need to rebrand the ITS industry, how technology can leverage tax dollars – and where the Star Wars universe fits in to his philosophy. Shailen Bhatt has a big job on his hands. The CEO and president of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America is the second to hold the post in two years following the resignation last July of his predecessor Regina Hopper. It has not been the easiest time for the
    Read More
  • Europe’s road safety record suffers as austerity bites hard, traffic police chiefs are told at TISPOL 2017
    March 7, 2018
    Europe’s leading traffic police chiefs are struggling with the challenge of how best to manage the region’s road network in an era of austerity. Things are changing fast, and not for the better, reports Geoff Hadwick. Europe’s road safety record is under threat. Police budgets are being slashed, staff numbers are falling and a long-term trend towards ever-fewer road deaths has ground to a halt. The line on the graph has flat-lined. Does Europe’s road network face a far more dangerous future? Lower and
    Read More
  • ITS needs continuity at the policy-making level
    February 1, 2012
    ITS needs to be sold to politicians in plainer terms and we need to be encouraging greater continuity at the policy-making level says Josef Czako, chairman of the IRF's Policy Committee on ITS. At the ITS World Congress in New York in 2008, the International Road Federation (IRF) held the inaugural meeting of its Policy Committee on ITS. The Policy Committee's formation, says its chairman, Kapsch's Josef Czako, reflects an ongoing concern over the lack of deployment of ITS technology on roads in anything li
    Read More
  • Control rooms prepare for AI disruption
    July 18, 2023
    From the cloud to AI, big change is coming to the control room technology sector. Adam Hill asks experts from Barco, UVS and Swarco what developments they are seeing as data points proliferate
    Read More

Highlighted Content