In their quest to keep U.S. civilians in constant fear of attack, the FBI has warned Google that their new self-driving car could be used in terrorist attacks. Under a public records request, The Guardian has obtained an unclassified, yet still restricted, report stating that self-driving cars could have deadly consequences in the next few years. Though Google’s car is still only a prototype, it hasn’t stopped the FBI from speculating the damage it could cause.
Read also: “Google Reveals Self-Driving Car”
According to The Guardian, the report claims that “bad actors will be able to conduct tasks that require use of both hands or taking one’s eyes off the road, which would be impossible today.” It envisions a future in which law breakers are capable of focusing on shooting at pursuers since the car can take care of all of the driving.
The report, released by the FBI’s Directorate of Intelligence, continued to explain, “Autonomy … will make mobility more efficient, but will also open up greater possibilities for dual-use applications and ways for a car to be more of a potential lethal weapon [than] it is today,” according to The Guardian. It is based out of fear that the same technological advances used to make the car drive on its own could be reprogrammed to carry out villainous acts.
The supposed level of danger reported by the FBI contradicts the mission of self-driving car development. Developers argue that self-driving cars will make the general population safer by eliminating the human error behind driving. While the FBI admits that the cars will most likely do just that, they are sticking to their guns nonetheless.
The report also pointed out the FBI’s interest in using self-driving cars for law enforcement purposes. Police enforcement could use self-driving cars to automatically keep a safe distance from a fleeing suspect as well as diminish the chances of said suspect from getting out of sight. The FBI believes that Congress could pass measures for civilian use of self-driving cars within the next five to seven years.
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