放开你的方向盘：奥迪自动驾驶汽车初体验

    开着一辆自动驾驶汽车是什么感觉？是不是将你的小命交给电脑，让它指引汽车在高速公路上以每小时70英里的速度行驶？

    你迟早会体会到这种感觉，也许5年内还不行，但15年内绝对可以。上了高速，你只要按下一个按钮，汽车就会开启自动驾驶模式，你可以玩一会儿手机，甚至睡上一觉。

    2015年的第一个星期，在一段从硅谷前往拉斯维加斯，长达560英里的旅程中，我体验了一番这种感觉。作为代表《财富》的记者，我荣幸地成为率先体验一款技术先进的自动驾驶汽车的五名记者之一。

    除去特殊的涂装和车身上的“奥迪自动驾驶”字样，这辆奥迪A7看起来与同型号的其它车辆没有任何区别。最奇妙的是，我很快就习惯了它在高速公速上替我做决定。

    目前，市面上所有主流汽车厂商都在争先恐后地开发首款完全自动驾驶的汽车。在有些厂家的宣传词里，好像不久之后“汽车人”就能自动替你去买菜了。别相信他们。不论是在技术层面还是法律层面，我们离那个目标都非常遥远。你10岁的孩子六年后还是得考驾照，除非你打算让他们20多岁时还要通过Uber来叫车载他们去商场。

    不过，德国大众集团旗下的奥迪公司想要证明他们已经在这个领域领先了一步，于是邀请我去试驾一款据说具备了“第三级”自动驾驶技术的轿车（这些等级的定义见本文附注）。这趟旅行的起点是门洛帕克市的一家酒店。在我的想象中，我以为只需要在导航系统里输入“拉斯维加斯”，按一个“走你”的按钮，车子就会载着我飞奔，然后我就可以用Kindle电子书悠闲地看《1984》了。

    事实上并没有这么简单。这台原型车只能在非常特定的情形下才能实现自动驾驶。基本条件是：1、它只能在标志明显的高速公路上才能实现自动驾驶，而且必须是白天，天气状况必须良好；2、驾驶员必须始终坐在驾驶座上，随时准备在紧急条件下立即转到手动驾驶模式（所以打盹是不可能了）；3、只有上了高速，司机才能开启自动驾驶，在车子下高速之前，司机就要重新接管汽车。

    奥迪的工程师表示，他们已经利用自动驾驶技术，在美国的公共道路上行驶了50,000多英里。但在本次旅途中，他们也不敢怠慢，而且已经沿这条向东南方经由巴克斯菲尔德的公路行驶了六次。这次车里依然始终坐着两名德国工程师。坐在后面的这位架着一台笔记本电脑，不停地检查各种数据。坐在副驾驶的那位始终谨慎地观察前方道路。比较尴尬的是，他的脚底下也有一套油门和刹车踏板。

    车子的后备箱里装满了台式电脑的部件，一大团数据线把它们与汽车联接在一起。这一幕看着也有点尴尬，但内饰基本上完全正常。

    我应该强调一下，我是A型血。多年的赛道训练和紧急操作练习也没有治好我的强迫症。你可能认为你是个很好的司机，但我很可能不这么认为。我喜欢坐在驾驶座上——如果开车的不是我，我宁可不坐这辆车。所以你可能会认为我的控制欲过强。

    另外，虽然我喜欢高科技，但我并不真心信任它。电脑还经常崩溃呢，或是被黑、中毒什么的，我自己的苹果电脑也经常死机。我真的准备好把宝贵的生命托付给机器人了吗？难道看了《终结者》系列电影后，我们什么教训都没学到吗？

    所以当我们沿5号公路来到加州一个小镇，换我坐到驾驶座上时，我还是非常高兴的。这辆原型车骨子里还是一台量产的奥迪A7，它是一款令人爱不释手、非常性感的溜背轿跑，动力充沛，悬挂也很出色。

    What’s it like to drive a car that drives itself? To give a computer full control of your destiny, on the highway, at 70 miles an hour?

    It will happen to you, maybe not in five years, but definitely within 15. You’ll be on the highway and hit a button and the car will take over, navigating through slow traffic and allowing you to tap away at your cell phone or even take a short nap.

    Well, I’ve experienced it already, in the very first week of 2015, on a 560-mile road trip from Silicon Valley to Las Vegas. On behalf of Fortune, I was one of five journalists to experience an autonomous car at this advanced level.

    The car was an Audi A7 that looked exactly like any other, if you discounted the special paint job and the words “Audi Piloted Driving” on the sides. The oddest part was just how quickly I got used to the car making decisions for me at highway speeds.

    All the major automakers are in a race to develop the first fully autonomous car, and if you listen to some of the companies it sounds as if a robotic chauffeur will be taking over grocery-getting duties any day now. Don’t believe them. Neither the technology nor the laws governing it are anywhere near that point. Your 10-year-old will still need his or her driving license in six years unless you plan to pay for Uber rides to the mall well into their 20s.

    Nonetheless, Volkswagen Group-owned Audi was out to prove that it was ahead of the curve, and invited me to test drive a prototype sedan capable of “level three” autonomous technology (see accompanying story for definitions of those levels). The trip began from a hotel in Menlo Park, and I had visions of inputting “Las Vegas” into the navigation system, hitting the “go” button and kicking back with 1984 on my Kindle as the car whisked me away.

    Not so much. This special prototype can only pilot itself in very specific situations. The basic criteria: 1) It drives itself only on well-marked freeways during the day and in favorable weather conditions; 2) A driver has to be in the seat at all times and ready to take back control immediately in an emergency situation (so no napping); 3) The driver gives up control while already on the freeway and takes it back before it’s time to exit.

    Audi engineers says they have done more than 50,000 miles of testing on public roads in America using this self-driving technology. But on this trip they weren’t leaving much to chance. They had run the long, southeastern route through Bakersfield at least six times previously. There were two German engineers in the car at all times. The one in the back had a laptop and was constantly screening data. The fellow in the right-hand seat paid keen attention to the road ahead. Disconcertingly, he also had his own gas and brake pedals.

    The trunk of the car was filled with components from desktop computers, with a hydra of cords interconnecting them to the car. Also a bit disconcerting. But the interior looked almost entirely normal.

    It’s at this point that I should mention that I’m an A-type driver. Years of training on the racetrack and practicing emergency maneuvers have not helped matters. You may think you’re a great driver. I would likely disagree. I love to be in the driver’s seat—and if I’m not, I’d just prefer to be outside the car. So yes, you might say I’ve got control issues.

    And while I like technology, I don’t really trust it. Computers crash all the time. They can be hacked and compromised and my Apple computer too often suffers that spinning ball of death. Was I really ready to turn over my life to a robotic overlord? Have we learned nothing from the Terminator movies?

    So I was happy enough to be in control as we motored through a small California town in the prototype Audi, making our way toward Interstate 5. The prototype was in most regards still a stock A7, a sexy, swoop-backed sedan that I really love. It has lots of pep and a great suspension.