We have had legit flying cars for generations, they are called “helicopters” and most people can’t afford or safely pilot one.
If you think the classic sci-fi “in the future we’ll all be using flying cars and it’ll be awesome” thing is a good idea, just try to realistically imagine how crappy life would be for us all if you and every idiot you fight with in traffic every day had a helicopter.
You can’t drive a helicopter down the freeway. You can’t land one just anywhere.
You can’t with this car plane either, a runway that gives room for the wings and tail to extend AND to be out while moving forward up to speed or landing will be necessary.
How is a helicopter remotely like a car? I agree though, that flying cars are a bad idea.
Putting aside the different principles behind how they propel themselves through space, the basic concept of a helicopter and a car are quite similar.
- It’s a metal box with machinery, windows, and doors.
- You open a door and get in at the start of your trip.
- You sit at the controls, which you are required to undergo training to use properly and lawfully.
- Other passengers can sit in the rest of the seats and come along with you on the trip.
- You activate the machinery and make the box move where you want, maneuvering along paths and around obstacles.
- At the end of the trip you stop the box in a safe place, switch off the machinery, and get out.
All of that applies equally to aeroplanes and boats. I don’t see how a car is any more like a helicopter than e.g. a small aeroplane.
If they were driven by competent AI, it could be feasible with a slew of new safety regulations in specified areas of the country/world.
But we aren’t even there yet with cars. You could absolutely argue some companies are very close, though! 100% not Tesla at any stretch of the imagination, but others have been putting the work in for over a decade with advanced technologies and countless hours of testing.
The competency of the AI is key. Maybe we’ll be there in another generation or two, but I’m not inspired with much confidence while even the big celebrated AI models still work like crap and can’t be trusted with actual human safety.
Also, accidents will always happen no matter what. On a 2D road a crash can be very tragic, but the area of effect is way limited compared to an equivalent car crash happening in the air causing human and machine parts to rain down dangerously onto an entire neighborhood and the people in it. Even under some imaginary complete and flawless AI control, any airborne “road” will always be a hazard to whatever’s underneath it.
