Declaration off the bat – I’m as worried about AI as the next person, and the inevitability bad actors will exploit it for nefarious purposes as they have every technology for time immemorial.

It’s a Pandora’s box we’ve been destined to open since the birth of electricity, possibly the discovery of the wheel. Its day has arrived, and we are now in its hands. Okay, but in the meantime, what about the handy bits? Where Artificial Intelligence might be a foil for Zero-Intelligence, or, Zero-I.

For those unfamiliar with the Western flank of SH29 Kaimai Range, it ascends eastward from the Waikato to the summit of the range and descends westward. From the summit down it is a series of manageable curves, increasing in radius until near straight as it drops the last couple of kilometres. The eastbound assent is two-laned, but the westbound descent is largely single lane, interspersed with passing lanes of entirely inadequate length. East/west separation comes courtesy of painted yellow centrelines only, due for the most part to available real estate.

There is no person I know who approaches the western Kaimai section of SH29 with complete comfort, and there is no shortage of road users contributing to the need for that discomfort to exist… a case in point follows.

Unless I’m witnessing a truly old school act of downhill driving, I’ll stay put behind trucks descending the western side. It’s roughly an eight-minute-long gauntlet from the summit to the flats below and the passing lanes are simply too short to cope with traffic volume in combination with the descending capabilities of modern trucks. It’s far too easy to find yourself in a difficult position as each passing lane section draws back into one.

In behind two modern Euro trucks making their way down at an entirely acceptable pace, a couple of people were happy to do as I was and just hold position. However, I kept watch in the mirror as the rest of the mayhem unfolded behind and around us, as vehicles jostled for position at every chance. As we all entered one of the shorter sections of passing lane, a ute pulled out to pass a car, while a second ute pulled out at the same time to pass both him and the car, meaning he crossed the double yellow lines into the oncoming lane to get around everyone – we’ll call him ‘Zero-I’. Drawing in alongside me as the lane ran out, there was no room for Zero-I and me, and so I yielded to avoid him hitting an ascending car head-on. On the off chance his guide dog had not advised him appropriately, I sounded the horn to both warn him of my presence, and yes, I’ll admit, make him aware of my frustration. However, this was not apparently a vision issue as three of his four brain cells mustered the motor skills required to flip me the bird out the driver’s window. About five kilometres off the western foot of the Kaimai Ranges is the hamlet of Te Poi, and it was here he pulled in to the dairy.

My first thoughts covered the old ground of ‘where are the cops when you need them?’ The truth is of course, they can’t be everywhere, and it’s events like this where AI might eventually put pay to Zero-I. Smart roads, smarter cars, restrictions based on driving records – nothing will eventually escape its all-seeing social engineering gaze. The hope is it leaves those with the accepted 171 billion brain cells and a good driving record alone, focusing on ‘assisting’ those in need of a few additional connections to make the good decisions they might struggle with currently. Essentially to be in the places where the police are not.

All the best

Dave McCoid
Editorial Director