Chris Gerdes - Ted Talk Essay Sample

Christian Gerdes is a professor of mechanical engineering at Stanford University and studies how car move and how people drive cars. This kind of research is important for designing new self-driving cars. However, in his Ted Talk Christian Gerdes is not trying to convey that the future of the cars will rely only on self-driving technology. The purpose of his talk is to show that despite recent technological breakthroughs, people should be praised for their fascinating physical and mental abilities that they usually show in the extreme situations, for example when race drivers have to drive at a high speed. So the main idea suggested by Chris Gerdes’s during his talk “The future race car – 150 mph, and no driver” is that there should be a balance between traditional and new forms of driving. No matter how advanced automotive industry has become, for some time or maybe forever there will be a very high interest in conventional driving.
The target audience of this video may be divided in two categories – automobile manufacturers and car drivers. On one side, Chris Gerdes demonstrates that now there are prototypes of self-driving cars which means that it is just a matter of time when this type of cars will be mass-produced. So automobile manufacturers should be ready to invest a lot of resources in innovations and similar technologies in order to stay competitive. On the other side, this video is addressed to car drivers. Chris Gerdes states that there are very few good drivers. This is why self-driving cars may become very popular. However, he thinks that not all drivers will be happy with self-driving cars, because for many drivers driving is a very interesting and sometimes extreme leisure activity. So he proposes a hybrid car that will have two modes of driving. Automobile manufacturers should realize that there are different types of drivers and therefore should not hurry with the launch of self-driving cars.
The main message that is being conveyed in this video is that human beings are about to see the new technological breakthrough – self-driving cars – which will change people’s lives. Additionally, Chris Gerdes would like to show his appreciation for fast drivers that have a very quick reaction and do not need any complex mathematical algorithms to avoid possible accidents. In the video he talks only about professional race drivers, but he probably has a similar opinion about a very large number of drivers that can drive well and receive pleasure from driving. So, he is probably in two minds about self-driving cars. This invention was inevitable taking into account how quickly technology and automotive industry was developing in the past decades. Nevertheless, people themselves should decide whether they should use self-driving cars or not. Of course, people that love driving and especially fast driving will not give up conventional driving.
In my opinion, a talk made by Chris Gerdes is fascinating. He showed the trials of a self-driving car that was moving at a very high speed in different weather conditions. This is definitely a remarkable achievement for the automobile industry. Very soon people will have an opportunity to own self-driving and electric cars. These two inventions are likely to be main factors of growth of automotive industry. At the same time, I liked the fact that Chris Gerdes did not praise the new technology and even criticized it. He focused on professional race drivers and researched their mental workload. This information can be useful for enhancing self-driving cars and making them much safer. More importantly, Gerdes’s talk raises an important ethical issue of the purpose of machines. Do we really need sophisticated machines that will not let us express our physical and mental capabilities? I think that self-driving cars will help people avoid many accidents, but they should not make people slaves of technology. Therefore, I agree with Chris Gerdes when he says that there should be a balance of machines and human. Hopefully, automobile manufacturers also realize that there should be such a balance and the fierce competition will not lead to excessive reliance on technology.