Remember the scene of minority report(opens in new tab) Where is Tom Cruise’s self-driving car going to automatically catch him for a crime he hasn’t committed yet? orinevitably, but it’s closer than I’d like.
Tesla warns that fully autonomous driving could cause crashes, recalls 362,758 vehicles
According to The Drive’s report(opens in new tab) Earlier this week, the US automaker filed a patent(opens in new tab) In late 2021 (before it goes public last week), it will allow future Ford vehicles to annoy owners in a myriad of ways if they miss a car payment.
Vehicles with on-board computers and internet connectivity can theoretically take advantage of these features, but they have yet to be implemented in real-world scenarios.
For example, non-payment may disable cruise control, radio, or GPS in your vehicle. Missed another payment and the air conditioner goes too.If you keep delinquent on your payments, eventually your car will actually move From your home to a place where repo people can easily pick it up. That is, if the car has self-driving capabilities. The patent says the vehicle only needs to be “semi-autonomous” for that particular feature to work.
Of course, it’s worth pointing out that, as with all things patent filing, Ford may never actually do this. Not because you necessarily have a specific plan for implementing your ideas, but because you don’t want others to steal your ideas. Still, anyone wanting a Ford vehicle in the future might at least want to think about this.
Either way, at least I now have a good excuse to think minority report minutes.
