It is not a Driverless Car!—A Framework for Interacting with the AI in Autonomous Vehicles

Abstract

With autonomous vehicles (AV) fast becoming a reality, in the not so distant future, streets are expected to be populated with these intelligent autonomous beings ferrying passengers alongside human-driven vehicles and pedestrians. The bulk of research today seems to focus on setting up the required software and hardware systems, alongside policies and transportation infrastructure. A gap is seen to exist within the realm where the passengers and vehicle AI interface. This calls for research in developing capabilities for the AI in AVs a form of social transactions that are more familiar to human beings, taking cues from natural conversations and body language signals. The reason for this is that autonomous vehicles not only need to perform navigational duties, but also need to communicate, respond, and reciprocate in a social manner. This would give the AI the dignity they deserve when performing their functions, as performing these activities accords with the capabilities of a self-aware, intelligent being. This paper proposes a framework for future communication between autonomous vehicles and humans, focusing on the working relationship between the vehicle and its passengers taking references of the communications theory related to human-to-human interactions, extrapolating to human-to-AI interaction within the AV.