As Machines Get Smarter, How Will We Relate to Them?

Bicycling in a hilly, busy city like San Francisco provides a cognitive as well as a physical workout. I survive in traffic by flexing not only my quadriceps but my theory of mind, the capacity to imagine the thoughts and intentions of others: Will the guy riding a Bird scooter swerve to avoid that pothole? Will the UPS driver try to run that yellow light? Last year, when General Motors stepped up testing of its Cruise autonomous vehicles, I began to encounter the sporty white hatchbacks with rooftop sensors once or more each day. At first the cars were overcautious and twitchy, earning angry honks from human drivers for unnecessary braking and hesitant turns.