Self-Driving Cars In ‘Difficult Driving Situations’ Are Guided By Random Filipinos Overseas
fliptop writes:
The chief safety officer for a leading self-driving car company admitted during a Senate hearing Wednesday that it hires remote human operators overseas to guide cars in "difficult driving situations:"
The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a hearing [NOT reviewed] Wednesday on the future of self-driving cars during which Waymo and Tesla executives testified. Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey pressed Waymo Chief Safety Officer Mauricio Pena on if his company's remote human operators worked from outside the U.S. and Pena responded that some were based in the Philippines.
In his exchange with Markey, Pena acknowledged that his company's operators do not remotely drive the vehicle but rather serve to provide additional input and guide Waymo vehicles in what the senator called "difficult driving situations."
The Waymo official stated that his company uses remote operators in both the U.S. and abroad. When Markey asked Pena what countries the remote employees were based in, he said they were in the Philippines.
[...] Ethan Teicher, a Waymo spokesperson, told the Daily Caller News Foundation all of his company's remote human operators, which he called "fleet response agents," must have a valid passenger car or van license as a hiring requirement.
[...] Fleet response agents receive a training program that includes local road rules, simulations on complex scenarios the vehicle might encounter, hands on practice, and evaluations by experienced fleet response agents, according to the Waymo spokesperson. He added that all agents undergo thorough background checks, receive random drug tests, and are reviewed for traffic violations, infractions and driving-related convictions.
"Their role is never to drive the vehicle remotely," Teicher said, concerning what the fleet response agent does to help guide Waymo vehicles. "Our fleet response team is not continuously monitoring and intervening in the vehicle's operation ... our technology, the Waymo Driver, is in control of the dynamic driving task even when it's receiving guidance from remote assistance."
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