It's political silly season, so you expect to see all kinds of ridiculous campaign ads, and in local elections they can get particularly bizarre. Most of them have little to do with technology and innovation and things that we focus on, but here's one that's been making the rounds that seems worth discussing here. A local campaign ad in Florida attacked candidate Jeff Brandes for... legalizing "driverless cars" in Florida. First, just watch it: The voice over and the graphics are pretty funny, but hilariously wrong. The idea that driverless cars are going to run down little old ladies in the street seems pretty odd -- especially when you consider the driving ability of some of those little, old ladies themselves. I've spent plenty of time in Florida, and I'd feel a hell of a lot safer with autonomous vehicles on the road than some of those little, old ladies behind the wheel.
Then, the ad "quotes" Forbes supposedly saying that "Driverless Cars for All: More DANGEROUS Than Driving." Here's the screenshot: Except... as Alex Knapp at Forbes points out, if you look at the actual article in question, it's got absolutely nothing to do with the physical safety of autonomous vehicles, but is more of a political discussion about the idea that, someday, in someone's imagination, we'll all be required to use autonomous vehicles, rather than be able to make bad distracted driving choices on our own. In other words, completely unrelated to what the ad appears to be suggesting.
But, more seriously, the ad then attacks the candidate by saying he should be focused on the economy and jobs. Um. You know one good way to do that? It's to help advance job-creating technology and innovations. You'd think that seniors in Florida would be excited, not worried about autonomous vehicles, in that they could help make them a lot more mobile.
Either way, the ad is silly, and pure misleading luddism targeted at Florida seniors. And, clearly, they didn't work, as the guy won his primary anyway. Oh, and it's worth noting that his opposing candidate -- the one that ad wanted the little old ladies to vote for? Yeah, he voted in favor of the same proposal to allow autonomous vehicles on the roads in Florida too. Ah, politics...
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