Beware of cars with minds of their own that get too creative for human good

Self-driving vehicles powered by artificial intelligence might not have the same priorities as their human owners

Predictions that autonomous cars powered by artificial intelligence will create a safer, more harmonious world may be off base: That’s because the new thinking technology will respond to different incentives than humans, and that won’t necessarily lead to better outcomes. 

Figuring out what the streets will be like once they’re owned by driverless cars isn’t an exact science, but a number of researchers have run game theory-based simulations or real-life experiments to try to work it out. Trials such as the one described in a 2018 paper by Xiang Ji of the North China Electric Power University predict that driverless vehicles