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Just a few minutes until the @PAVECampaign x @lizadixon #Autonowashing discussion! Super excited for this, and I'll be livetweeting some of highlights.
Going live!
If you haven't read Liza's paper on #Autonowashing, you can find that here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590198220300245
Liza says she wanted to look at technology we're already using, so she focused on Level 2 and was surprised by what she saw when she started looking into how they were being used. Now she is pursuing a PhD working on HMI and automated drive systems.
The word #Autonowashing just came to Liza while discussing things here on Twitter... proof that good things do come out of social media sometimes!
Any time a driver assistance system is referred to as "autonomous" or "self-driving" (let alone "Full Self-Driving") you have #Autonowashing. But also, things like turning to the camera and saying "look, no hands!" can be considered #Autonowashing as well.
This is a really interesting point: this is not just about word choice. #Autonowashing is any kind of overrepresentation of a system's capabilities, some of which can be quite subtle and even entirely nonverbal.
Liza points out that under-trust in a highly capable system can be problematic as well, as it might lead to the human driver interfering in a way that is unsafe. It can also just lead to the driver not activating the system at all.
Another really important point just now: ADAS/ADS designers will never be able to anticipate everything, so the professional standard is whether a problem is foreseeable. Not everyone understands this, but it's super critical... especially when you get into liability litigation.
Liza just referenced this fascinating @AAASafety study, which I highly recommend reading if you're interested in this. It found a direct correlation between the way a system is presented and named and how safely it is used. https://aaafoundation.org/impact-of-information-on-consumer-understanding-of-a-partially-automated-driving-system/
Liza is talking about the importance of consumer education as the solution to #Autonowashing and its attendant problems, and all of us @PAVECampaign are feeling it 
Another brilliant point: @SAEIntl's J3016 standard is a "taxonomy" rather than a "ladder" of capabilities. It's about describing different kinds of systems, and not just ascending levels of capability.
Such a great point, and something a lot of people still don't understand.
Such a great point, and something a lot of people still don't understand.
"This really is a science" says @lizadixon of human-machine interaction issues like #Autonowashing. "These aren't just our opinions."
THANK YOU!
THANK YOU!
When a driving automation system sounds super exciting that's the moment when you have to be especially skeptical, says Liza. You have to ask questions and find out what the limitations of the system are. Limitations always exist, and you don't want to find them the hard way.
"Drive safe!" says @lizadixon as she gives her closing thoughts and the discussion winds up.
What an awesome discussion. Some seriously important insights in there, and I'm so glad Liza took the time to share them with us. Look for a Youtube link soon!
What an awesome discussion. Some seriously important insights in there, and I'm so glad Liza took the time to share them with us. Look for a Youtube link soon!
Here's the Youtube link for this week's @PAVECampaign virtual discussion on #Autonowashing featuring @lizadixon. I've interviewed Liza myself and have watched several other interviews with her, and I still learned new things from this one. Give it a watch!
"This really is science... when [human-automation interaction researchers] are critical about the things we see happening on the road, we're just here to echo the science."
~ @lizadixon, making a point that the internet badly needs to hear
~ @lizadixon, making a point that the internet badly needs to hear
