Car manufacturers will need to comply with new AI tracking technology requirements by the end of the year.
The add-ons will place cameras pointed directly at the driver’s face to monitor eye movements, among other bodily functions.
‘The touch system is being designed to analyze alcohol found beneath the driver’s skin’s surface.’
The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is to blame for the new requirements that will allegedly reduce drunk driving deaths and reduce costs that Congress claimed were more than $44,000,000,000 in 2010.
Section 24220 of the bill, titled “ADVANCED IMPAIRED DRIVING TECHNOLOGY,” declares that in order to “ensure the prevention of alcohol-impaired driving fatalities,” advanced prevention technology “must be standard equipment in all new passenger motor vehicles.”
This includes requirements to “passively monitor” the performance of a driver in order to “accurately identify whether that driver may be impaired,” “prevent or limit motor vehicle operation if an impairment is detected,” and “passively and accurately detect” if a driver’s blood alcohol concentration is equal to or over the legal limits.
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According to Yahoo News, the technology in practice will be fairly invasive, as it will include a series of artificial intelligence-backed sensors and cameras that will continuously monitor the driver’s mental state.
This includes infrared cameras mounted on the steering column that will directly track the driver’s eyes for pupil dilation. The report also stated that the systems will monitor drowsiness patterns.
If the AI determines the driver to be impaired, it can both prevent ignition or limit the vehicle’s speed.
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Photo by David L. Ryan/Boston Globe via Getty Images
One such example of this technology is made by Magna, a company contracted by General Motors.
Magna’s technology utilizes “cockpit-embedded sensors” that consistently measure a driver’s exhaled breath, which, when combined with “pupillary signals,” determines the driver’s blood alcohol levels.
In addition, not only is GM reportedly working on its own alcohol detection system, but researchers are looking to include touch as another way to detect impairment.
“The touch system is being designed to analyze alcohol found beneath the driver’s skin’s surface,” wrote the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety program, which is funded by large automakers.
The technology is rather intrusive in that it requires a finger scan to use “tissue spectroscopy to measure alcohol” in the driver’s finger or palm.
As it stands, the monitoring technology is required for “all new passenger motor vehicles” only.
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