Driverless cars could be used as mobile-brothels: Study

Driverless cars, according to Silicon Valley analysts, are less than a decade away from being mainstream. The future brings the promise of minimal traffic accidents, less fuel consumption, more free time and easier commutes. But while that’s the direct benefit of the upcoming technology, researchers believe the autonomous cars could also become a new place to have paid sexual intercourse. According to a study conducted on the impact of autonomous vehicles on urban tourism, co-authors Scott Cohen and Debbie Hopkins believe the autonomous vehicles, with no driver inside will be the perfect alternative to shady motels where sex workers like to operate. The study envisions that in the future, car manufacturers could specifically design autonomous vehicles into microbrothels where there could be beds instead of seats along with convenient lights and music, even massage chairs. There could be user-controlled electro-chromatic windows to keep people from looking in, and more to make the experience more private. “It’s only a natural conclusion that sex in autonomous vehicles will become a phenomenon,” co-author Cohen told the Washington Post. The lack of a prying eye on the front-seat and the convenience could be a big factor into turning autonomous vehicles into mobile-brothels. The researchers studied over 150 articles on the future of cars and extrapolated the findings to determine how driverless cars could impact tourism in marquee cities. The first impact of autonomous vehicles will be that traditional cabs will vanish from the roads. Energy efficiency and safer roads are other two impacts. With the manufacturers now free of driver costs, they could invest more in improving the customer experience. Spacious interiors, massage chairs, beds, etc. could be installed in the cars. This, researchers say, will give rise to “hotels-by-the-hour” on wheels. Tourists could call for one from an app that’s yet to be invented of course. While this sort of a consequence is more likely to happen in cities where prostitution is legal like in Amsterdam, which has the world’s largest Red Light District, it could also be seen happening in places where it’s illegal like in the United States. It won’t be that difficult to get around the law. “While driverless cars will likely be monitored to deter passengers from having sex or using drugs in them, such surveillance may be rapidly overcome, disable or removed,” the Washington Post quoted the study. Waxing further, the study states that autonomous vehicles could be used for far more sinister purposes like drug dealing, and even terrorism in the form of remote-controlled bombs. Autonomous vehicles could also lead to a lot of inequality since algorithms can be influenced to favor someone specific over the others. No safety standards for autonomous vehicles have been drafted yet, however. Although, a common theme, Washington Post reported, in AV conferences is using the technology as a platform for delivery of services. And sex is just one such services. There’s also the matter of privacy. Tinted windows cannot really hide everything. Further, there will be a bevy of sensors in the driverless cars including speakers and cameras. Even for the sex workers, it may not be all that enticing considering the technology could be used against them in places where prostitution is criminalised.

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