‘Autonomy’ Review: Self-Driving Vehicles Get A Fair Trial

Alex Horwitz punctuates hope with a wise warning in this techy documentary on driverless cars.

After its November 2019 release, I finally managed to steal a little time last weekend to watch Autonomy by Alex Horowitz. As a nod to my very first Medium post Machine-Human Symbiosis — Are We Ready?, in which I discuss driverless vehicles and the behaviours humans must unlearn before we can adapt to and fully trust them, I thought it would be fun to have a bash at reviewing the documentary.

Following his debut feature Hamilton’s America, about the making of popular musical Hamilton, Horwitz brings us something much techier here — and much more up my street, I have to confess. The young filmmaker cleverly chooses to kick off Autonomy by putting to use perhaps his most valuable resource, a delightfully eccentric and quick-witted Malcolm Gladwell — who also happens to be one of the documentary’s executive producers.

A few years back, I had the pleasure of reading Malcolm’s revolutionary book The Tipping Point, which looks at the science behind viral trends in business, marketing and human behaviour. I became an instant fan, so when I learned he played a role in this project, I was excited. And the brilliant writer didn’t let me down, bringing…