October 30, 2020
In the Media

AgeLab Research Scientist Bryan Reimer commented to CNN Business on Tesla's "full self-driving" beta testing:

Tesla's technology can't be expected to immediately match human performance yet, as the artificial intelligence-powered system needs real-world experience to gather data, learn and improve. But having a raw, student driver on roads also raises questions of whether Tesla is doing enough to mitigate safety risks.

Bryan Reimer, who leads MIT's Advanced Vehicle Technology Consortium, which studies advanced driver assist systems like Tesla's Autopilot, told CNN Business that humans aren't equipped to oversee automation without support, and a camera-based driver monitoring system is needed at minimum to mitigate risks associated with Tesla's full self-driving software.

"This is an experiment on the development of automation with participants that haven't consented," said Reimer, referring to pedestrians, cyclists and other drivers who may be at risk from sharing roads with inattentive drivers using Tesla's technology. Reimer's research has found that Tesla drivers are more distracted when using its driver assist technology.