Event
Irving and Renee Milchberg Endowed Lecture
Tuesday, March 10, 2026
3:30 p.m.
Anne Suplee
301 405 5944
asuplee@umd.edu
https://science.umd.edu/events/milchberg-2026.html
Irving and Renee Milchberg Endowed Lecture
with
Missy Cummings
George Mason University
The Illusion of “Self”-Driving Cars
Tuesday, March 10, 2026
3:30 p.m.
John S. Toll Physics Building, Room 1410
Self-driving vehicles are coming to the DC area in the summer of 2026 but are they up to the task? Companies like Waymo and Telsa are jockeying for pole position but suppressing a secret - no company has any actual self-driving cars as they all require remote human supervisors. Recent self-driving vehicle incidents are examined, revealing critical gaps in current industry practices, with potential threats to public safety. Then, drawing on more than 35 years of U.S. military experience with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) remote operations, I will discuss the five lessons directly applicable to self-driving cars: latency constraints, the importance of human‑centered workstation design, the challenges of managing operator workload, the need for systematic operator training, and the necessity of robust contingency planning. Lastly, the danger of AI hype and the importance of techno-realism will be discussed.
Refreshments at 3 p.m.
https://science.umd.edu/events/milchberg-2026.html
