My three-year-old daughter Carson might be Waymo’s biggest fan. Spawned from Google’s self-driving project, Waymo vehicles are testing so frequently in our San Francisco neighbourhood that we usually see four of them on our 15-minute dog walk. Carson and I play “spot the Waymo” and sing about the laser-sensors that enable the vehicle to see. “The lidar on the Waymo goes pulse, pulse, pulse…”
Carson likes Waymo because they look distinct, their 29 cameras, five lidar and six radar sensors jutting out on all sides of an I-Pace model Jaguar. The fact that a robot is driving, however, fails to impress her. This is just the reality she has been born into. It’s no more special than on-demand Bluey episodes.
The former CEO of Waymo, John Krafcik, told me last year that Carson will never need a driver’s licence. “She’ll be able to use a Waymo in just about any place she might be,” he said. “So that’s one less thing for you to worry about.”