Driving Decisions

Beschreibung

This book examines the phenomenon of autonomous driving, and the ongoing, complex, costly, and contentious quest to automate driving. It is organized around the concept of algorithmic decision-making, with a particular focus on the ‘advance decisions’ necessary to automate driving, and driving decisions as rudimentary as turning a corner, merging onto a motorway, or stopping at traffic lights. The author investigates how mapping, sensing, and machine learning capabilities are gifted to autonomous vehicles through the technical work performed by an array of actors in multiple locations: from users of advanced driver assistance devices enthusiastically serving as volunteer data collectors, to graduate students developing computational solutions in university research initiatives, and from software developers running computer simulations at big tech firms to their counterparts at autonomous vehicle start-ups overseeing active robotaxi services. 
This book intends to complicate, and question, typical understandings of autonomous driving by going ‘under the hood’, challenging the determinism, or ‘technological decisionism’, that advocates depend on to offer their vision of an inevitable, fully automated, future. It will appeal to scholars and students in the fields of Science and Technology Studies, media studies, digital sociology, human geography, mobilities and transport studies, and digital methodologies.
Sam Hind is a Lecturer in Digital Media and Culture at the University of Manchester, UK. He researches digital navigation, sensing, and automobility through the lens of algorithmic decision-making. He has studied technological shifts in driving and automotive navigation for over 10 years, with a particular interest in how big tech companies have sought to disrupt the automotive industry. 

Driving Decisions: How Autonomous Vehicles Make Sense of the World examines the phenomenon of autonomous driving, and the ongoing, complex, costly, and contentious quest to automate driving. Principally organized around the concept of algorithmic decision-making, the book considers how different mapping, sensing, and machine learning (ML)-dependent capabilities are gifted to autonomous vehicles through different kinds of technical work: from computer science students annotating visual data in industry-funded research centres to software engineers designing ‘end-to-end’ ML models at autonomous vehicle start-ups. 

The book intends to complicate, and question, typical understandings of autonomous driving by going ‘under the hood’, challenging the technological determinism or ‘decisionism’ that advocates offer of an inevitable, fully automated, future. Drawing on seven years of research in a range of empirical contexts, the book will appeal to scholars and students in the fields of science and technology studies, media studies, digital sociology, human geography, and mobilities and transport studies.

Autor*in

Sam Hind

Themen in »Driving Decisions«

Autonomous driving Decision-making Sensing Mapping Machine-learning Artificial intelligence (AI) Digital Media and Culture Sociology and Politics of Science Digital navigation Digital sociology Mobilities and transport studies Platform studies Digital methods Self-driving cars Autonomous vehicles

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"Driving decisions is an insightful and timely examination of the world of autonomous vehicles. ... The book centers around the concept of algorithmic decision-making ... . The book is grounded in seven years of research and draws from diverse fields like media studies, science and technology studies (STS), and digital geography. Its strength lies in its methodical, behind-the-scenes look at how decisions are crafted--not made--by both humans and machines." (R. S. Chang, Computing Reviews, April 30, 2025)

“Finally, an in-depth study on automated decision-making in self-driving cars. Sam Hind's timely book sets standards for a growing field of critical research on autonomous machines. Impressive in the breadth of sources and examples, it offers a clear and expertly written contextualization of processes that fundamentally challenge the spaces in which humans and machines interact.” (Florian Sprenger is Professor for Virtual Humanities at Ruhr-University Bochum)

“Driving Decisions is a terrific book. Having heard so much for so long about the hype and promise of autonomous vehicles, it is wonderful to read such a rigorously researched and engagingly written account of the current reality of autonomous vehicles. Organised around the concept of decisions, Hind’s book offers a detailed and wide-ranging examination of the socio-technical work that goes into creating the conditions of possibility for automated automobility. This book is essential reading for those with a specific interest in autonomous vehicles, and for those with broader, critical interest in automated decision-making and society.” (Rowan Wilken, RMIT University, Australia)

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