Driverless Planes, Trains & Automobiles – 5 on the Future of Work
Driverless planes, trains & automobiles.
How will this affect our lives 5 years from now? What jobs, careers, and opportunities will it create?
5 on the Future of Work is a compilation of 5 recent articles focusing on technologies and developments that could affect how we live, work and play 5-15 years from now.
As GenZ parents (with children born 1995-2012), we need to debate these technologies with everyone around us, including our children, neighbors, teachers and colleagues.
Assess the opportunities that will be created in these new industries. What skills will you need?
Discuss the disruption they will cause to life as we currently know it. Are there some simple ways to mitigate these?
Debate how long it will take before we ‘cannot live without it’.
Focus on Driverless technology – Planes, Trains & Automobiles
In just 10 short years the smartphone has revolutionized our lives (the iPhone launched in 2007). Similarly, the transportation industry is going to be affected by the move to autonomous vehicles.
Some common themes in the articles below were:
- Does the public have the confidence to trust technology when human oversight is so far away from the controls?
- The impact on municipalities to change and adapt current traffic expectations and on the insurance and regulatory industries to anticipate risk and cyber-security issues.
News Roundup:
- Cars: Volkswagen unveils concept driverless Sedric (CNBC) VW debuted ‘Sedric’ their driverless concept car at the 2017 Geneva Auto Show. Google, Uber, and Tesla have been experimenting with autonomous vehicles for over 5 years. Cities from San Francisco, USA to Christchurch, NZ are already discussing how to ‘merge’ autonomous vehicles into daily traffic.
- Buses: Self-driving buses in Helsinki, Finland (NYT) Helsinki officially launched the world’s first driverless bus service, with each bus able to carry 12 people.
- Trains: Driverless Train service starts in Hong Kong (Curbed)
This service went live in January 2017, serving the South Island line. - Ships: Cyber-enabled yachts (Lloyd’s Register) If you have autonomous ships, what are the insurance implications?
- Planes: Are we ready for a pilot-less plane? (The Atlantic) Are the public more or less likely to take a pilot-less flight?
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Discussion time: How will this affect you and your family?
Some of the points you may wish to consider as you read and discuss the topic of Driverless with your family and friends:
- The speed of change: Were you aware of the pace of research and development for autonomous travel? Were you surprised to see such rapid progress?
- Lifestyle: Pretend it is 2022 (5 years in the future). After reading these articles, do you think your daily commute will be different? Share 3 possible, probable or fantastical ideas. What positive or negative impacts could this have on older members of society?
- Career: How could these developments impact your current or planned career choice? (automotive, aeronautical, municipal & government, legal, finance etc.) Can these technologies create new opportunities for you? Suggest 2 new career paths that could be created.
- Mass adoption: Have you ridden in autonomous transportation? Please share your story. FinTech faced similar adoption problems with a lack of public trust early on with Chip&PIN cards. What lessons can we learn from those experiences?
Next week’s topic: ROBOTICS
HOPE FOR THE BEST, PLAN FOR THE REST
The GenZ student of today needs to stay informed and continuously incorporate advances in technology during their post-secondary education to stay at the top of an ever-evolving job market and be in demand for the careers of tomorrow.
Karena works with her clients (students and their families) to help them get the best return on their investment of education and time. An average undergrad+postgrad spans 4-6 years, which is as long as a technology cycle. Most jobs now require a postgraduate qualification.
To work with Karena, please email Karena@theKarenaArena.com. Like this post? Please subscribe to email alerts below to catch new posts and follow the Karena Arena on FaceBook.
THANKS, INSPIRATION, REFERENCES, CITATIONS
- Dedicated to my cousins spread across 5 continents whose varied interests keep me at the top of my game, and bring a range of topics to my attention.
I was discussing driverless cars with my girls and saying that they wouldn’t need to learn to drive. Both insist that they want to – always useful to have more skills, and we think that it driverless technology won’t be able to spread as rapidly all over the world. Good infrastructure and regulations are necessary for it to work.
Question typing:keyboard skills::driving:?!! Maybe it will get re-purposed!
While researching the VW article it was psychologically interesting to see that they did not envision a driverless version of their luxury brand Porsche because people who buy those ‘want to drive’. That being said Audio and Porsche (both under VW) just announced they are collaborating on electric and driverless technology!