About this episode
For years, companies and techno-bros have been saying that self-driving cars are ready to roll. Now companies like the ride-hailing service Lyft are actually letting customers take rides in autonomous vehicles. And at CES this year, John Deere unveiled a self-driving tractor that lets farmers put the latest automation tech to work in the fields. But if the time for self-driving vehicles is finally nigh, what does that mean for the workers who make a living behind the wheel? This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED staff writer Aarian Marshall joins us to talk about the increasingly near future of autonomous vehicles. Then, a conversation with Jody Kelman, the head of Lyft’s autonomous driving division, and Aubrey Donnellan, a cofounder and the chief operating officer at the John Deere subsidiary Bear Flag Robotics. Show Notes: Read Aarain’s story about autonomous cars . Read Will Knight’s story about John Deere’s self-driving tractor . Watch all of the talks from WIRED HQ at CES . Recommendations: Aarian recommends the HoMedics TotalComfort Portable Ultrasonic Humidifier . Mike recommends the Substack newsletter The Signal from David Katznelson. Lauren recommends Brandon Taylor’s Substack Sweater Weather . Aarian Marshall can be found on Twitter @ aarianmarshall . Lauren Goode is @ LaurenGoode . Michael Calore is @ snackfight . Bling the main hotline at @ GadgetLab . The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@ booneashworth ). Our theme music is by Solar Keys . If you have feedback about the show, or just want to enter to win a $50 gift card, take our brief listener survey here . Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices