Professor Banafa says if San Francisco wants to be the leader in AI technologies, then it needs projects like driverless cars to showcase what can be done.
But critics argue that the technology isn't ready. Some of the strongest opposition comes from the San Francisco police and fire departments. On Friday, just one day after winning approval from the California Public Utilities Commission to operate like a taxi or other rideshare company, video posted to social media shows a driverless car interfering in a fire response.But Professor Banafa states that most of the problems require a software fix.
"Most of the problems they are facing is software related. It's a bug, it's a glitch, it's a very complicated software. But the AI is the core of this technology," he says. " know the problems. The users, the public are reporting those kinds of problems. Now it is on the part of the company. They have to be fast and to solve those problems. Patch software."Over at Cal State East Bay, Professor Moayed Daneshyari says there will be a learning curve with the public.