Upcoming Autonomous Vehicle Safety Conference Will Bring Together Industry's Leading Experts

The New England Motor Press has been planning a May conference for over a year. The topic, Autonomous Vehicle Technology: Who's Driving, could not be more timely and important.

Each year, the New England Motor Press Association, called NEMPA, hosts a conference at the Massachusetts Institue of Technology. Past subjects have included electric vehicle adoption, design, and other topics of great relevance to the evolution of the automobile. This year's topic is Autonomous Vehicles, and specifically, who's driving the safety of this technology.

The event will be held at the MIT Media Lab and includes a lunch, pre-program symposium and will be followed by an industry-only session including a Q&A with the top minds in this field. Past programs have drawn notable experts in the field of vehicle autonomy, including Dr. Gill Pratt, of the Toyota Research Institute. Dr. Pratt's team is one of the leading autonomous vehicle development teams in the world. Other attendees of past symposiums included chief designers from FCA (Chrysler), Ford, and GM.

Written well before the recent tragedy in Arizona in which a self-driving Uber vehicle struck and killed a woman, the program's synopsis included the following:
"But is this artificial intelligence technology safer than human intelligence? Will it really make our lives more convenient? And, is it worth the privacy risks? How and when will this transition to autonomous and connected vehicles actually occur? Will the government mandate or regulate these technologies in the name of safety? What rights or protections does the consumer have?"

Limited spots remain for this important meeting of industry experts. Those interested in attending should visit the dedicated program page.