My heartbeat quickens just a bit because the cab approaches. It’s a weird sight, one which I assumed I would not see in my lifetime.

The cab has no driver. It stops in entrance of me and invitations me to unlock its door with my telephone – earlier than whisking me into the night time.

But as I’m about to get in, a passer-by approaches.

“They’re unsafe,” he tells me. He says he noticed somebody almost get run over by a robotaxi – and warns me to watch out.

He represents a faction in San Francisco that does not like robotaxis – and believes town has agreed to a harmful experiment, which is placing lives in danger.

And some have gone a step additional. Over the summer time a marketing campaign group has begun to disable the automobiles, by placing cones on their bonnets.

Safe Street Rebel describes what it does as “coning” and a few of its movies have gone viral. But metropolis officers are dedicated to permitting them to function on their streets – for now.

On 10 August 2023, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) voted to permit two cab firms – Waymo and Cruise – to run a 24-hour service. Previously, they’d solely been allowed to function paid rides at night time.

But earlier than that vote, officers listened to 6 hours of public remark – a conveyor belt of individuals voicing their hopes and issues.

There have been Uber and Lyft drivers anxious that robotaxis would take away their livelihoods: “If you allow self-driving taxis to expand, it’s going to take jobs away from families. I’m a single mum,” stated Rosine, an Uber driver within the metropolis.

Representatives of rubbish disposal vehicles stated the automobiles usually broke down and blocked their automobiles. San Francisco’s fireplace service has criticised the automobiles for a similar cause – claiming to have been obstructed 55 occasions this 12 months.

Others consider the expertise merely hasn’t proved itself to be protected but. Matthew Sutter, a cab driver in San Francisco, stated: “I’m all about technology, but it’s not ready guys… this is a danger to the citizens of San Francisco.”

There have been others representing bodily disabled individuals who questioned how they might have the ability to get into cabs with out assist from a driver. Mara Math, a member of the Paratransit Coordinating Council, stated the embrace of robotaxis would “leave disabled San Franciscans out in the cold”.

But then there have been its supporters. George Janku, an orthopaedic surgeon in San Francisco and eager bicycle owner, stated: “I see how these cars behave, and I trust them much more than angry drivers or distracted drivers.” He added that he had labored on many critical accidents involving human drivers – and that robotaxis seem like safer.

Jessie Wolinsky, who’s blind, stated she had been harassed by Uber and Lyft drivers. Waymo automobiles had “provided me with a level of safety that I’ve never experienced before”.

There was additionally a mom who stated taxi drivers had rejected her once they noticed her kids’s automobile seats – one thing a driverless automobile would by no means do.

I’ve seen either side of the argument. I’ve used Cruise’s robotaxis a number of occasions over the previous few months, with none accidents. At the identical time, I’ve additionally been in a robotaxi that has damaged down in the course of the road.

Unsure the way to deal with a decent right-hand flip, it merely stopped. Cars behind me beeped after which lastly mounted the kerb to get round us. I might perceive their frustration.

Just eight days after the vote to permit firms to develop the usage of robotaxis, a Cruise taxi was concerned in an accident with a fireplace engine.

The state division of motor automobiles requested that Cruise halve the variety of automobiles on the roads – one thing it has agreed to.

The metropolis’s Attorney, David Chiu, requested the CPUC to halt its resolution: “San Francisco will suffer serious harms from this unfettered expansion,” he stated.

And but Cruise and Waymo are insistent that their robotaxis are protected.

Waymo informed the BBC the corporate had clocked greater than two million miles of absolutely autonomous driving. It says it has not had a single accident with a pedestrian or bicycle owner.

Waymo additionally says that each vehicle-to-vehicle collision it has been concerned in is when different drivers break the principles or drive dangerously.

Cruise informed the BBC it had accomplished three million driverless miles and had a robust security report.

Many San Franciscans stay unconvinced although. In a quiet metropolis park I met one of many ringleaders of Safe Street Rebel – who needs to be nameless.

They inform me that coning could also be one of many first bodily protests in opposition to synthetic intelligence – and that these sorts of human actions are going to grow to be increasingly frequent.

They’re pissed off that folks’s issues about robotaxis in San Francisco should not being listened to: “We’re definitely not vigilantes. We’re just the community self-organising to make ourselves heard.”

I requested them whether or not they have been the twenty first Century equal of a Luddite – a bunch that was vehemently against technological modifications within the early nineteenth Century.

“Yeah, I think there are parallels here. And I think the Luddites get treated unfairly throughout history.”

San Francisco is in an odd place. It desires to be on the spearhead of innovation. But metropolis officers haven’t taken many residents with them.

It now appears like town has reached a crossroads. The automobile firms themselves insist the automobiles are protected. But if they can not persuade San Franciscans of that, they are going to have a combat on their arms to stay on town’s streets.