If you’re someone who’s been known to miss a car payment or two, you might want to listen.
Ford Motor Co (NYSE:F) has filed a patent for a system that could turn your vehicle into a punishment machine if you fall behind on your loan. The system could disable everything from the air conditioning to the GPS, leaving you to suffer in a stifling car with no idea where you’re going.
It gets worse. Ford also suggests the idea of activating an audio component in the car to emit a hideous sound whenever you’re inside: an incessant, piercing noise that would drive even the most patient of people insane.
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The rise of AI and autonomous driving: Artificial intelligence (AI) has been an increasingly prominent part of people’s daily lives. From AI becoming one of the biggest areas of venture capital funding for startups to the rise of programs like ChatGPT, the applications are getting wider and wider. Ford’s latest filings show some of the more troubling aspects of this, but a patent filing doesn’t necessarily mean it will be used and could help replace the malicious system currently used by recovery companies.
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The details: Ford is considering ways to repossess the vehicles if the owner falls behind on their payments. The patent, which was filed in August 2021 and published in February, describes sensors, cameras and other equipment that could be used to remotely disable the car and stop it if the rightful owner is not behind the wheel. And it’s not just the engine: things like the air conditioning could also be turned off.
According to the patent, missing a couple of car payments would trigger a chain of consequences within the car that Ford calls a “multi-step recovery procedure.”
First, you will receive a crime warning on your entertainment system screen. If you ignore it, there will be a second warning. And then things start to get interesting. Ford suggests that your car could slowly transform into a living nightmare with all sorts of punishments for delinquent car owners. The car could disable its own air conditioning, automated key, GPS or music system.
For vehicles with autonomous or semi-autonomous driving capabilities, the system could even move the car from place to place to make it easier for a tow truck to come and take it away. If the lender decides that it is not economically viable to repossess the vehicle, the car could be driven to the scrapyard.
The patent application goes into great detail about how the system would work. The scary part is that if your car is connected to the Internet, this technology could theoretically be applied to it.
Recovery computer: The patent describes a “recovery computer” that could be installed in future cars to make the system work perfectly, but also states that no additional hardware would need to be added to the vehicle to make it work.
“In some embodiments, the vehicle computer may be configured to perform some or all of the functions of the recovery system computer,” according to the patent.
Ford has included measures in its patent to prevent owners from frustrating the recovery process, such as locking the vehicle in a locked garage. If this happens, the system would automatically alert the police.
The patent for self-repossession of cars has not been granted, so people are still not at the mercy of their vehicles. But with new and used car prices skyrocketing post-Covid, it’s no wonder companies like Ford are exploring every avenue to make sure they get paid. According to Experian, drivers are paying an average of $700 a month for new cars and $500 a month for used vehicles.
This patent raises some important questions about the future of autonomous vehicles and how they will be used.
See below: Thanks to changes in federal law, anyone can invest in leading startups that create innovative ideas. For example, RAD AI is pioneering the world’s first AI marketing platform built to understand emotions.
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