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Nathaniel Mauga
CST Writing Lab
21, January 2017

The Tech Industry, and Self-driving Cars

The tech industry, one of the largest, broadest, and fastest growing industries today,

employs more than 7.1 percent of the U.S. GDP and paid over $708 billion on payroll in 2014

(Grisham, 2016). The industry grew over 3% in 2015 (Grisham, 2016), and is projected to grow

12% from 2014 to 2016 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015 ). Put into perspective, that's 488,500

more jobs (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015 ), and this year alone we saw an increase of nearly

200,000 in tech and tech related jobs (Grisham, 2016). Multiple factors have led to this

explosion in this industry, including the amount of innovation in the last decade, diminishing

unemployment rates, and the obvious increased demand for technology products (Grisham,

2016). This increased demand and innovation has created a rich environment for new

technologies, and has led to a spike in company interest in automated driverless cars. This sort of

sub-industry, having a foot in both the tech sector and the auto sector, has created many job

openings in the tech workforce. Google alone has listed 620 job openings in the last month under

self-driving, most of them for software engineers (linkedin, n.d.). Other companies such as Ford

Motor, Mercedes-Benz, and Tesla have also been hiring by the dozens to hundreds for their own

automated car projects (Cava, 2016). Self-driving cars havent been produced for the market just

yet, as this is a relatively new technology, but multiple tech and auto giants are racing to lead the

way in this new trend, and judging by their drive, one can count on seeing the tech and auto

industry change in very dramatic ways.

Leaders in the new driverless car industry seem to be Google, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, and

Tesla (Hamed, 2015) . This list is based mostly off stocks, progress, patents, and experience, but

since self-driving car products havent been released for sale just yet, its hard to tell who really
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is doing well and who isn't. Google, known for a plethora of tech related products and services,

has most certainly been one of the founders of this trend though. Their journey started back in

2009 as Googles self-driving car project (Waymo, n.d.), but has roots going back as far as

2004 (SXSW, 2016). The DARPA grand challenge 2004, sponsored by the Department of

Defense, set out to leverage American ingenuity to accelerate the development of autonomous

vehicle technologies that can be applied to military requirements(darpa). The challenge was to

build a robot car that would drive itself across the desert without human help for 150 miles

(SXSW, 2016). This is where Google self-driving car project lead Sebastian Thrun and CTO

Chris Urmson first started working on robotic cars. Although no contender completed the task,

the Department of Defense called everyone back to try again the next year, and 5 teams finished,

including Sebastian Thruns team (SXSW, 2016). In 2007, Grand Challenge III tested automated

cars on mock suburban roads, and again, many teams finished (Darpa, n.d.). Around this time

was when Sebastian and Chris went to work for Google, and started work on Googles self-

driving car project privately.

Google X, Googles moonshot factory, as they like to call it, is a section of their

company dedicated to radical solutions to huge problems through breakthrough technologies

(x.company, 2016). This is where the self-driving car project was born (SXSW, 2016). The

purpose, to make our roads safer, free up peoples time, and improve mobility for everyone

(Waymo, n.d.). In 2012, the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles licensed a Toyota Prius

modified with Googles experimental driverless technology for Googles first test runs on public

roads (Waymo, n.d.). Google founder Sergey Brin stated that a self driving car would be

available to the general public by 2017, but was later updated in 2014 by project director Chris

Urmson to 2020 (SXSW, 2016). 2014 saw Googles newest prototype, a fully customized car
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built from the ground up as a fully-autonomous vehicle with no steering wheel, brake, or gas

pedal. This car went on its first driverless ride on public roads in Austin Texas later in 2015 with

its sole passenger being former CEO of the Santa Clara Valley Blind Center, Steve Mahan

(Waymo, n.d.). The project approached its end, but only because it was so promising. Google

decided to hand it over to its own independent company in 2016, the companys name - Waymo

(Waymo, n.d.). Waymo stands for, a new way forward in mobility, and it has only been around

for roughly a month. Based in Mountain View, CA, Waymo is led by former chief executive

officer of Googles self-driving car project, John Krafcik. The company is derived from Google,

under Alphabet inc., and is still dedicated to making this technology available by 2020 (Waymo,

n.d.).

Controversies, fears, excitements, and general public hype surrounding self-driving cars

produces much talk on the topic of this technologys benefits and disadvantages. Chris Urmson,

former CTO for Googles self-driving car project spoke out on the cars positives at TED2015.

He presented some shocking statistics on vehicle related deaths; roughly 38,000 people die on

American roads every year, and 98% of those are at fault by driver error (Urmson, 2015). He

pushed the point further by saying, thats the same as a 737 falling out of the sky every working

day (Urmson, 2015). No one would fly if they knew one plane was going to fall out of the sky,

every day. Drivers do the same thing when they get in their car for their daily commute.

Admittedly, driving is necessary for daily life, but Chris puts the dangers of human driving into

perspective. Driverless cars could virtually erase that statistic, a clear win for the technology.

Chriss next point is just as potent, but a little less morbid; Americans spend roughly 50 minutes

a day commuting (Urmson, 2015). Doesnt sound bad until you add that up for every American,

and Chris did that too, 6 billion minutes a day, or one hundred and sixty two lifetimes, spent
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driving, every day. That time could be spent working, with friends and family, and more

appealing to corporations, spending money - another win for driverless cars. A few other

advantages would be reduced car parks (Waynor, 2015), increased mobility for the disabled,

elderly, and low-income citizens, reduced commute times (Urmson, 2015), reduced fuel

consumption and carbon footprints (Pyper, 2014), and even potentially reduced insurance (Peltz,

2016).

There are however downsides to this technology. For one, the question of liability. Who

will be to blame for accidents when considering a fully-autonomous car? How will insurance

companies and manufacturers go about that? Another big one is the risk of privacy and security

loss from hackers or terrorists, or even from the large tech and auto corporations themselves.

Patrick Lin writes a very interesting article for theatlantic.com about this. He creates an eerily

real, fictional future where a car would drive you past a Krispy Kreme because its connected to

your online accounts and knows you have a craving for donuts. He notes, But to make your

automated car divert from its usual course because some advertiser paid it to do so, well, that

sounds like a mini-carjacking. (Lin, 2014). Its something to think about, and will undoubtedly

raise moral and ethical questions in advertising in the future. Some other obstacles for the

industry include resistance from individuals to give up control of their commute, risk of

increased suburbanization (Ufberg, 2014), and even government regulations and laws regarding

self-driving cars.

Self-driving cars will have an affect on transportation at the very least, but clearly on the bigger

picture, on society as a whole. Whether it be saving lives, a loss of privacy, redesigned cities,

and/or reduced commute times, the future of driverless cars will change many aspects of life.
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Currently there are two major trends in the industry leading the way to mass produced

self-driving cars. One is the way Google has decided to go with, and that is 100%, fully-

autonomous technology. It means what it sounds like, a car that requires no input, or intervention

from a passenger. This is considered Autonomous, or fully self-reliant. The other trend, more

widely used and accepted right now is automated cars. The difference is, an automated car needs

in some part or some way, help from a passenger or driver. The SAE international classification

rates automated driving on a scale from 0, being, full-time performance by the human driver of

all aspects of dynamic driving task, to 5, the full-time performance by an automated driving

system of all aspects of the dynamic driving task (SAE n.d.). Tesla, a leader in driver assisted

technology right now, is producing cars at level 2 according to this scale, and working on plans

for a car with an even higher rating of driver assistance(tesla). This method of automation

attempts to incrementally approach full autonomous driving, and according to Chris Urmson,

from Google, this is like practicing jumping and attempting to fly (SXSW, 2016). Both trends

are popular right now, and are leading the race to produce robotic cars, but because there are

already driver assisted cars out there, it does seem as though this is the prefered method.

According to compTIA, the largest growth in the tech industry right now shows in the

demand for software developers, cyber security professionals, data professionals, and IT support

specialists (Grisham, 2016). The self-driving car industry will further push this trend, as it has

and will continue to warrant the need for software developers. Many companies are hiring right

now, and are looking for qualified, experienced, and passionate programmers to work on this

ambitious vision of the future.

My end goal would be to work in the tech industry as a software developer. The game

industry originally pulled me into computer science. Working as a game designer, programmer,
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level editor, or even as a technical artist for a company that I believe in would be a dream come

true, and although that industry is where my heart lies, I love to expand my knowledge of other

areas of the tech sector. Learning about self-driving cars has fostered a new desire to work for

something cutting-edge, something new and bold and daring, something controversial,

something that will change the world. Programming for a large company also seems nice, the

idea of working for a company willing to invest all theyve got into a new technology seems like

a lot of fun.

Regardless of where I plan to work as a software developer, the requirements are mostly

the same; a degree in a technical field, and experience working on large and small projects,

meeting deadlines, and working both with teams and on ones own. Continuing my degree in

computer science from an experienced, reputable school is my main focus and the largest

attainable step towards my goal of working in the tech industry. Ive clearly chose CSUMB and

am beyond excited to finish my education here. I will also continue to put myself through

smaller online classes such as game design, programming in other languages, and even web

design to broaden my knowledge and stay current with the many different practices in the tech

industry. Self-improvement is also of interest and importance to me and to stay on top of

personal growth I plan to read books and enroll in online classes regarding the topic. Staying

involved with news and the current state of the industry is also important to being able to

transition into a tech job. CSUMB provides many resources to help students do just that, and

staying connected with my professors and classmates during and after this course will build

connections and knowledge on the industry.

The tech industry is one of the largest industries in the world right now, and with the

demand for technology related products increasing every year, it doesnt seem like it will decline
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any time soon. Given the state of this industry, many innovative and ground-breaking

technologies will continue to surface, much like self-driving cars, and there will be many

opportunities to work in these fields for a long time given one has the right qualifications. The

self-driving car industry is hiring right now, and will thrive in todays economy, bringing much

change to how people think about transportation, privacy, ownership, and safety. This is only one

example of an area within the tech sector that will flourish due to the high demand for tech

products in todays society. I feel pretty secure in my dreams of working in the tech sector as

long as I continue with my educational plan, self-improvement goals, and stay connected with

my peers in school and the industry.

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Rerferences

Grisham, P. (2016, February 29). Press releases. Retrieved from

https://www.comptia.org/about-us/newsroom/press-releases

Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2015, December 17). Computer and information and technology

occupations. Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-

technology/home.htm

Linked in. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/google-self-driving-jobs

Cava, M. (2016, October 17). Whos hiring for self-driving car jobs. Retrieved from

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2016/10/17/google-ford-not-only-names-self-

driving-car-jobs/92315206/

Zachary Hamed. (2015, January 21). 12 stocks to buy if you believe in driverless cars. Retrieved

from http://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharyhamed/2015/01/21/driverless-

stocks/#31cb67c434f9

Waymo. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://waymo.com/journey/

SXSW. (2016, March 12). Google self-driving car project | SXSW interactive 2016 [Video file].\

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj-rK8V-rik

Urmson, C. (2015, March). How a driverless car sees the road. Retrieved from

https://www.ted.com/talks/chris_urmson_how_a_driverless_car_sees_the_road/transcript

?language=en

Darpa. (n.d.) Grand Challenge Overview. Retrieved from

http://archive.darpa.mil/grandchallenge04/overview.htm

x.company (n.d.) Retrieved from https://x.company/about

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Wayner, P. (2015, August 5). How driverless cars could turn parking lots into city parks.

Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/08/driverless-cars-

robot-cabs-parking-traffic/400526/

Pyper, J. (2014, September 15). Self-driving cars could cut greenhouse gas pollution. Retrieved

from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/self-driving-cars-could-cut-greenhouse-

gas-pollution/

Peltz, J. (2016, June 20). Self-driving cars could flip the auto insurance industry on its head.

Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-agenda-driverless-insurance-

20160620-snap-story.html

Lin, P. (2014, January 22). What if your autonomous car keeps routing you past krispy kreme?

Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/01/what-if-your-

autonomous-car-keeps-routing-you-past-krispy-kreme/283221/

Ufberg M. (2014, October 15). Whoops: the self-driving tesla may make us love urban sprawl

again. Retrieved from https://www.wired.com/2014/10/tesla-self-driving-car-sprawl/

SAE international. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.sae.org/misc/pdfs/automated_driving.pdf