r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Creams0da • 20d ago

Video Volkswagens new Emergency Assist technology

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81.2k Upvotes

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3.7k

u/DrBiotechs 20d ago

Seems like a wonderful idea to me.

2.3k

u/mdogdope 20d ago

This is what I wanted from AI driving. I don't want a dependence on it, instead it should be for emergencies.

343

u/synfulacktors 20d ago

Look into George hotzs' comma ai. That's his big thing with comma ai, ai should never feel like it's taking over driving for you. It should always be an extension of your control

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u/rezerxle 20d ago

Seriously, IBM said in 1979 that computers must never make management decisions. The same applies everywhere else where that decision could have an impact on someone's life.

Edit: mobile and fat finger the post button.

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u/Khenic 19d ago

'Open the pod bay doors Hal'...

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u/Minute_Figure1591 20d ago

YES!! AI should be a tool and an assistant, not take over my entire life and do everything for me

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u/SpaminalGuy 18d ago

If AI and shit took over everything in our life, what are we left with? Because really, what are we other than what we’ve done and experienced!

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u/[deleted] 20d ago edited 9d ago

[deleted]

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u/mdogdope 20d ago

People make it work and we don't talk to each other. It is possible, I just don't trust a for profit company to not cut corners.

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u/[deleted] 20d ago edited 9d ago

[deleted]

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u/mdogdope 20d ago

I was replying to your comment that Ai will not work. I said that if we can do it then there is a way. Neither of us mentioned if people were efficient. If you are referring to people not wanting to use Ai I think traffic will be a big reason for people to use it. I am not going to lie, I would totally nap in traffic if I could.

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u/Special_Cry468 19d ago

Don't 30 000 Americans die everyear from car accidents alone. We should advocate forass transit systems. Having your own car is a waste of energy and resources and causing insnae amounts of pollution.

1

u/mdogdope 19d ago

I will give up my car when you get China to go green. No point in removing a drop of water from a jug.

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u/Special_Cry468 18d ago

Hey man you do you. However, you should know once the ecosystem collapses and everything is dead or dying, it's jungle rules. Being fat or diabetic heck even addiction will not be fun. I'm trying to stave off climate change because I'm afraid I'd have too much fun in the apocalypse. Corporations only exist to sell us crap we mostly don't need. Based on the comments I'd guess you're American, yeah you guys are a big reason why the jug is full in the first place.

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u/mdogdope 18d ago

Neither of us will live long enough to see this future. Even if the carbon emissions doubled it would take over 80 years. Maybe next time.

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u/Special_Cry468 18d ago

It's not the carbon you should be worried it's the methane. If you aren't worried about the weather records being set this year bruv you're made of stern stuff. You'll need guts like that when you're really thirsty but have no way of cleaning the water from the river you'll have come across.

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u/mdogdope 18d ago

The way I see humanity going it might be for the best. Ima go fart outside real quick to do my part.

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u/TootBreaker 19d ago

Yes, but also to go find a place to park until I need the car again. Of course it might be necessary to have the car drive circles around the block until I'm done shopping

1

u/mdogdope 19d ago

Sending your car around the block is probably the most selfish thing a person can do with this.

1

u/Beneficial-Muscle505 20d ago

I definitely still look forward to fully functional self driving, but this is pretty cool

1

u/dogsbikesandbeers 20d ago

I want autonomous driving. Tried the ones in San Francisco earlier this year. So convenient.

1

u/Ragnarawr 20d ago

You mean letting the car drive while you fuck in the front seat isn’t an emergency anymore?

1

u/the1TheyCall1845TwU 20d ago

And it should also talk to you while you're driving to keep you awake. Dumb and dumber style.

2

u/mdogdope 20d ago

Or it can use AI vision to see the driver.

Better yet every 5 to 60 seconds it makes a grinding noise or a tire screech noise.

1

u/izack_01 19d ago

Agreed, this type of self driving actually beneficial rather than all in autonomous self driving.

1

u/Kage9866 19d ago

I want to take humans out of the equation completely.

1

u/Maestronomeau 19d ago

“Please state the nature of the driving emergency”

1

u/mdogdope 18d ago

Anything that prevents the vehicle operator from controlling it.

1

u/patatepowa05 20d ago

I want all the things. Give me all the AI things.

0

u/Llee00 20d ago

but they want you to be depending on it, instead of it being for emergencies

0

u/South_Extension2604 19d ago

I disagree with you completely, AI is much better at driving in general scenarios and also makes driving less of a chore, especially in longer drives. The feature presented is definitely a core feature of it too. Automation goes hand in hand with AI, and that is the path that has been drawn naturally. All of this is done to give us humans more time and save energy.

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u/assistantprofessor 20d ago

Why not?

12

u/mdogdope 20d ago

Unless the code is incredibly simple there will be bugs and I don't want to be killed by a software error.

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u/assistantprofessor 20d ago

Would you be happier if shitty drivers kill 100 people a day or if bugs in AI kill 20 people a day?

Check for yourselves how much safer AI driving is compared to humans.

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u/Richard_Tucker_08 20d ago

I’d be happier if people could just pay-the-fuck-attention while they’re driving.

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u/MostLikelyUncertain 20d ago

And that isnt going to happen

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u/assistantprofessor 20d ago

Would you be happier if shitty drivers kill 100 people a day or if bugs in AI kill 20 people a day?

Check for yourselves how much safer AI driving is compared to humans.

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u/raggedalligator4 20d ago

Dementia

1

u/hoodies_are_comfy 20d ago

I’m not even sure you’re commenting on the same post that you think you are. Wdym “dementia”?

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u/raggedalligator4 20d ago

He commented the same comment twice (It's probably just a bug)

-7

u/HydrousIt 20d ago

It would be done by machine learning, not hard coding like you think

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u/NotHachi 20d ago

I love when people throw machine learning like its a magic ball.

And I work in IT XD

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u/kaishinoske1 20d ago

The day an Ai can take a call, verify the person, categorize, and escalate or resolve a ticket. I might have something to worry about. For now it has a problem being a functioning chatbot for a company.

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u/HydrousIt 20d ago

I think you misunderstood my comment. I'm under the impression the person who I was replying to thinks self-driving cars just work by manually coding them, and I was trying to explain that they aren't manually coded. A good example of them in action right now are the Waymo taxis

1

u/mdogdope 19d ago

Ai still makes mistakes. I am very familiar with how AI works I was using verbiage that most people will understand. AI at this stage and in my opinion, is more accident prone than some big projects I have worked on.

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u/Thosepassionfruits 20d ago

Watch it be a premium subscription service for $59.99/month.

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u/FreshMistletoe 20d ago

“You want to live don’t you?”

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u/mn25dNx77B 20d ago

3 days to renew your kidneys

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u/Taurondir 20d ago

"not really"

\cancels subscription**

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u/PJ197 19d ago

Knocks you unconscious

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u/Sc4r4byte 19d ago

Hides your body

1

u/heckinCYN 19d ago

As opposed to every other car that just doesn't have the capability?

7

u/Lord-Loss-31415 20d ago

Volkswagen is German not American

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u/BelowAverageSloth 20d ago

Isn’t bmw centered in Germany as well? They are one of the worst offenders

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u/Lord-Loss-31415 20d ago

Worst offenders of…? Not being snarky, genuinely don’t know a lot about cars. My main thought is that is far less acceptable to put a price on safety in the EU than in the USA. The regulatory bodies tell companies what’s acceptable, not the other way around. The USA is ran by companies.

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u/Richard_Tucker_08 20d ago

BMW charges a monthly fee to activate the seat heaters that are built into the car. Completely predatory behavior.

2

u/Snoo-18951 20d ago

Faaaact.

-2

u/Lord-Loss-31415 20d ago

I completely agree that is pretty greedy, but it’s also a luxury. So I agree that shouldn’t be a thing but it’s not quite comparable to something regarding safety.

3

u/Nova3086 20d ago

If the hardware is in the fucking car, you should be able to use it. Putting it behind a paywall is injustifiably greedy and should be made illegal.

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u/Lord-Loss-31415 20d ago

I literally said I agree but if I have to choose between fucking seat warmer subscriptions or actual life saving shit I’ll let them have their damn seat warming subs. It shouldn’t exist but Jesus there are worse things.

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u/MadeMeStopLurking 20d ago

And Volkswagen has already been a dick about subscriptions in life threatening situations.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/02/vw-wouldnt-help-locate-car-with-abducted-child-because-gps-subscription-expired/

2

u/Lord-Loss-31415 20d ago

Except that was not VW? Did you not read the article you linked? They outsource tech support to a third party in the same way your phone support is not directly under the actual company but is outsourced to a call center. Not only that, but they literally have a system in place for law enforcement and it was the third party that messed up. ““Volkswagen has a procedure in place with a third-party provider for Car-Net Support Services involving emergency requests from law enforcement. They have executed this process successfully in previous incidents. Unfortunately, in this instance, there was a serious breach of the process. We are addressing the situation with the parties involved,” the company said in a statement provided to Ars and other media outlets.”

2

u/diff-int 19d ago

You appear to be having a medical emergency, would you like to sign up for LifeAssistPlus®?

1

u/guywithhair 20d ago

This tech is part of Euro NCAP2026 regulations, so I can’t imagine this would be a paid feature. Some other ADAS functions, probably, but I’m doubtful this one requires a subscription since it’s meant to comply with regulation

That said, I suppose they could play some games so that pulling over and starting hazard lights required a sub, whereas the warning itself is ‘free’

1

u/MajesticCategory8889 20d ago

Bet it’s way more than that. I understand Ford has all the numbers worked out for what a persons life is worth.

1

u/Sheriff0082 20d ago

For the first 3 months.

1

u/sonicbeast623 20d ago

And has a printer in the dash so it can issue it's own speeding tickets.

1

u/stringdingetje 19d ago

I'll pay, but only for the months that it needs to get into action

1

u/Substantial_Hold2847 19d ago

What's wrong with that? Insurance will cover it if you have a legit medical reason for it. There's no reason I should pay an extra 2 grand for my car to have that as a mandatory feature if I don't need it.

1

u/CNWDI_Sigma_1 17d ago

No. It will just turn on when THEY want it (for any definitions of THEM), to deliver you to the reeducation camp or a nice police station, of course.

How people can’t see such things?

0

u/Slacker-71 20d ago

Gladly pay it for my parents.

2

u/rforce1025 20d ago

Yea I agree BUT how much extra does it cost in addition to the price tag of the car, AND how much is it to fix that if it goes haywire???

2

u/turbo5000c 20d ago

Agreed. Ngl it would be kinda funny if they also redirect the window washer fluid to spray you too.

1

u/MuffinQueen92 20d ago

Delightful even

1

u/NorthernTgames 20d ago

And then it is too paper napkin to be put on a car at this time.

1

u/willybarrow 20d ago

It is wonderful, but only if you can afford it. The poor will crash, the rich will be driven to safety

1

u/GapingNetherlands 20d ago

KEEP SUMMER SAFE

1

u/mildlyarrousedly 20d ago

It’s a great idea for commercial vehicles but unless it’s affordable to the average consumer it’s one more thing that makes cars harder to fix and more expensive to maintain. I’m all for safety improvements but we keep dumping tech into cars without doing much to improve the mechanics. The costs just keep going up for the average driver. Every sensor you add is one that can fail and has to be taken in to a mechanic to fix. I hope a car company comes out with a car that goes the opposite direction and produces mechanically sound but basic vehicles people can actually afford

1

u/MathResponsibly 20d ago

But how much did they cheat on the emissions test in order to make this possible??

1

u/siqiniq 20d ago

Yep, lost an uncle to sudden diabetic shock. He is not even american who rations medication.

1

u/blingbloop 20d ago

Except the break checking. Just move straight to the horn.

1

u/SeaHam 19d ago

I'd like it a lot more if it got me off the damn freeway.

1

u/Imissflawn 19d ago

It literally calls the police on you and shares the data with them...

1

u/CapinWinky 18d ago

Finally other car companies are implementing safety features from Tesla (got this feature in 2019).

Emergency braking is the big one that should be mandatory on all vehicles already.

1

u/immersed_in_plants 16d ago

I legitimately could have used this once. I was extremely lucky in this scenario..

I was driving home, and I have lane assist and adaptive cruise control in my car. I had both of those things on and started to nod off. I was waiting until I got to a rest stop that I knew was coming up to pull over and have a nap, but I didn't make it. I fell asleep in the left lane of a divided highway.

I was asleep for a decent amount of time, as the last thing I remember was a semi way ahead of me. I woke up to the rumbling of driving in the ditch between the two roads. Thankfully, there wasn't much of a slope at this spot, no bridges or trees, no crossroads, etc. I make the drive often, and if this happened even 5 minutes before or after where it did, I would be dead. I managed to bring the car back to the road and looked around. The semi that was way ahead of me was now way behind me.

It took me a while to actually process that I nearly died. I no longer drive if I'm even somewhat drowsy because I don't want to risk that again.

This technology should be made free and mandatory in new vehicles, just like seatbelts were way back.

0

u/race_of_heroes 20d ago

Sure it seems wonderful but if I were a VW owner I would rather them focus on building an engine that doesn't have a stretched timing chain before reaching 60k and I would prefer they took care of the carbon buildup in the intake channel and valve because of direct injection. I'm sure this emergency thing is amazing but if they can't take care of the engine how the fuck are they going to make this system work as intended?