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Self-driving cars lack warmth of my car

Why is it that the launch of self-lacing shoes by major brands today signals some sort of an achievement?!

Slightly beat up and it's just past its 'extended warranty' timeline. I am forced to mull over what I should fork out to keep it looking shiny. I feel that my ride and I have an understanding - somehow, we have this connection across the music of the universe. (Wo)Man and machine (there is such a thing). The engine is tuned up, the tyres, brakes, oil changes, all optimal. When the engine purrs, you practically don't know it's there.
I have a name for her, and no, it's not panthera tigris. I have to be coy about this one, as there are some things I can't share with you all. Yet. The office chair isn't a bit like a couch, so I'm not ready to spill all.
I often rent cars when I travel out of town, both left- and right-hand drives, across brands, but I'm never so happy as when I get back to My Car. The khaki armrest has a fine tracery of lines as the leather is beginning to wear. I'm somewhat reluctant to have the interior stripped down and refitted, and it's making me question myself. Should I be uneasy with my level of comfort with the status quo? Or should I celebrate the faded loyalty that makes me insist that the best is yet to be. My big car and I have only just gotten to know each other.
I could, sometime in the future, think of retrofitting my car with the latest self-driving technology, may be. But something about that makes it difficult for me to imagine relinquishing control to artificial intelligence. On the one hand, it is the real pleasure of interacting with the machine, and on the other, it feels like the machine and its perfection is interacting with me. The control passes. The idea of increasingly autonomous interactions makes me uncomfortable. It feels as if the value we place on human life is shifting. At every level, if we reduce our interactions with other people, what will we become? The bugbear of social media is producing a generation that has a vivid, lively personality online but is utterly confused about how to interact face-to-face. Today, we pass this off as sullen teen behaviour, but what if it becomes the new normal?
Why is it that the launch of self-lacing shoes by major brands today signals some sort of an achievement?! There was a sweet rhyme that helped children remember how to tie their shoelaces. Something about over, under and around the tree, and I do remember a rabbit-hole in the charming song. But hey, we can now fly the flag of self-tying shoelaces. Children can learn to perfect their fine-motor skills some other way.
Now, my confession: I've figured out the easiest way to reduce my husband to mush. Relax: this is a family-friendly newspaper. It goes like this: if I'm at the wheel of the car, and my husband is in the passenger seat, all I have to do is to park out of alignment. You know, not quite parallel to the garage walls - just a little bit out of whack. It drives him crazy. Now imagine - I could never have that sly bit of fun at his expense, if the family major-bot (in lieu of major-domo) parked the car for me. Should that be an important consideration for me to not fully support the AI brigade? A bot could be programmed to be naughty, but predictive modelling on behaviour? Making artificial intelligence as human as possible is horrifying but it appears that that's where we are headed.
- harveena@khaleejtimes.com