武汉又出名了，这一次是因为百度旗下的智能驾驶出租车——智能无人驾驶出租车开始在武汉运营了。这种被称为“烧萝卜”的“萝卜快跑”无人出租车只是在部分地区运营，上个礼拜我们一家去湖北省科技馆的时候在路上看见过一辆。但它已经在出租车司机和网约车司机当中引起了恐慌。据乘坐过的同事说，这种无人驾驶汽车的价格相当便宜，十公里大约只需要五块钱，大大低于网约车和出租车的价格。而且这个价格经过几次调价，几次涨价之后的地铁价格相比也非常有竞争力。即便略微贵那么一点点，但是你可以舒适地坐在车上，不用和别人挤来挤去，光这一点就已经值回票价了。目前的不足之处就是车辆还是比较少，营运车辆还是比较少，呼叫这种无人驾驶出租车需要等待很长的时间。而且现在是试运营阶段，人工智能的算法设计还比较保守，所以同样的行程到达目的地所花的时间也比普通的出租车和网约车要长。但是这些所谓的不足之处随着规模的扩大和算法的改进是可以不断得到改善的。
萝卜快跑的优点是有人驾驶的出租车和网约车所无法比拟的。首先是省去了人工成本，价格有竞争力，而且随着规模的扩大很有可能会进一步降低。另一个就是它可以二十四小时不停接单，而一个网约车司机即使他再拼，也要吃饭睡觉，所以在这方面它是人类完全不可能比得过的。当然，从消费者的角度来说，这些都是天大的好事情。一方面可以大幅度降低出行的成本，提高出行的舒适度；另一方面也非常方便，即使在深夜也不怕难不到出租车了。
从逻辑推理来说，这项业务能够顺利开展并持续完善和成熟下去，那么在不远的将来，几乎可以说是宣判了有人驾驶出租车这个行业的死刑。因为从市场竞争和效率的角度来说，越来越贵的人工成本在这个领域里面完全没有竞争力了。于是太阳底下没有新鲜事，历史课本上曾经描述过的中国工业革命时期纺织工捣毁机器的运动，以另一种形式在武汉发生了。一些出租车和网约车司机组织起来，将汽车停在道路上进行罢工抗议，要求政府停止无人驾驶出租车运营。
对于这件事情，也有很多不同的观点。有的观点认为这件事有利于消费者，因为无人驾驶出租车行业受益的群体覆盖的社会面更广泛，网约车司机只是社会的一小部分群体，所以从公利主义的角度来看应该支持。当然，我认为公利主义并不是一个好的说法，毕竟在这个社会上，我们大家既是生产者同时也是消费者。如今，人工智能的发展日新月异，如今网约车司机遭遇的命运，哪天也会落到我们的头上，人毕竟是低头赚钱，脑袋决定脑袋。另一种说法是，中国不像西方国家那样贸然推广人工智能技术，造成大规模失业，而失业人口是没有保障的，会造成很严重的社会问题，甚至社会动荡。这种观点听上去很有道理，但是我也无法认同。这其实就如同中国古代的封建帝王为了保住自己的江山永固而实行闭关锁国，拒绝外来的先进技术和文化是一个道理，长期下去只会导致中国越来越落后。在网上看到一位大V的说法，我觉得很有道理。也许这才是应对人工智能应用越来越广泛的方法，在很多事情、很多简单的工作不需要人类来做的时候，那么也许每个人都应该成为企业家，来发现机会，推动人类的文明向更高的水平进步。
Wuhan is becoming famous again, this time because Baidu's intelligent driving taxi, intelligent driverless taxi, has begun operating in Wuhan. Known as "burnt radish," the "radish Fast Run" driverless taxis are only available in some areas, and last week my family saw one on the road during a visit to the Hubei Provincial Science and Technology Museum. But it has caused panic among taxi and ride-hailing drivers. According to colleagues who have taken the ride, the price of this driverless car is quite cheap, only about five yuan for ten kilometers, which is much lower than the price of online taxi and taxi. Moreover, this price has been adjusted several times, and the subway price after several price increases is also very competitive. Even if it is a little more expensive, the fact that you can sit comfortably and not have to jostle with others is worth the price of the ticket. The current shortcoming is that there are still relatively few vehicles, there are still relatively few operating vehicles, and it takes a long time to call this driverless taxi. And now is the trial operation stage, the artificial intelligence algorithm design is still relatively conservative, so the same trip to reach the destination takes longer than ordinary taxis and online car. However, these so-called shortcomings can be continuously improved with the expansion of scale and the improvement of algorithms.
The advantages of radish fast running are unmatched by manned taxis and online car hailing. The first is to save labor costs, the price is competitive, and it is likely to be further reduced with the expansion of the scale. Another is that it can take orders 24 hours a day, and an online taxi driver has to eat and sleep even if he tries again, so it is completely impossible for humans to compare in this respect. Of course, from the consumer's perspective, these are all great things. On the one hand, it can greatly reduce the cost of travel and improve the comfort of travel; On the other hand, it is also very convenient, even in the middle of the night, it is not afraid to take a taxi.
From a logical point of view, this business can be smoothly developed and continue to improve and mature, then in the near future, it can almost be said that the death penalty of the driver-driven taxi industry. Because from the perspective of market competition and efficiency, the increasingly expensive labor costs are completely uncompetitive in this field. So there was nothing new under the sun, and the movement of textile workers smashing machines during China's industrial revolution, which had been described in history textbooks, took place in another form in Wuhan. Some taxi and ride-hailing drivers have organized and parked their cars on the road to strike and protest, demanding that the government stop driverless taxi operations.
There are many different opinions on this matter. Some views believe that this matter is beneficial to consumers, because the group that benefits from the driverless taxi industry covers a wider range of society, and the network about car drivers are only a small part of the society, so from the perspective of public interest should be supported. Of course, I think that public interest is not a good term, after all, in this society, we are both producers and consumers. Today, the development of artificial intelligence is changing with each passing day, and the fate of today's online car drivers will fall on our heads one day, after all, people are bowing their heads to make money, and their heads decide their heads. Another argument is that China is not like Western countries that rush to promote artificial intelligence technology, resulting in mass unemployment, and the unemployed population is not guaranteed, which will cause very serious social problems and even social unrest. This view sounds reasonable, but I can't agree with it either. In fact, this is just like the feudal emperors in ancient China who closed the country in order to keep their own territory forever, rejecting advanced technology and culture from outside is the same truth, and in the long run, it will only lead to China falling further and further behind. I saw a big V's statement on the Internet, I think it is very reasonable. Maybe this is the way to deal with the increasing use of artificial intelligence, in a lot of things, a lot of simple jobs do not need humans to do, then maybe everyone should become entrepreneurs, to find opportunities to push human civilization to a higher level of progress.
