How Waymo's AI-trained self-driving cars could feel scary even if they're safe

Waymo's plan to launch a transportation service with self-driving cars in Phoenix, Arizona, later this year has a bit more riding on it than usual. Phoenix is just 10 miles from Tempe, Arizona, where a self-driving test car from rival Uber killed a pedestrian in March of this year. The company made a strong case Tuesday morning at Google I/O for how AI technology made its self-driving cars ready to hit the streets solo. But one of its strongest examples also showed how a self-driving car could intelligently scare the bejeezus out of a rider. It'll be interesting to see how perceptions of safety work their way into the self-driving car experience.