Though neither company would say exactly how many cars are on the city's streets, they have become a ubiquitous presence in San Francisco as the state gradually lifts restrictions. Cruise currently has a permit to charge for driverless passenger pickups and drop-offs in limited areas of the city from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. The company also can offer free passenger service throughout the city at any time of day, with or without a safety driver. Waymo can charge for its rides throughout San Francisco with a safety driver present, and can offer fully autonomous pickup and drop-off if the ride is free.

According to AI, the future is bright. The prompts focused on how overcrowding, climate change and technological development are likely to change the cities of the future. The amazing results show many of the concrete jungles adorned with lush vegetation sprouting from sci-fi-looking hi-rises that winged vehicles soar around in bright blue skies. By 2050, almost three-quarters of the world population (68 percent) will live in cities, according to a UN prediction. While it might sound bleak, technology could turn congested regions into lush utopias.

Over the course of the last two years, we interviewed mayors, city officials, urban planners, academics, and citizens in cities around the world to identify the trends that are making urban living more sustainable, affordable, and human. One theme that emerged was cities' increasingly important role in ensuring the health and well-being of their residents.4 Cities currently represent just 3% of the world's territory but harbor 55% of the world's population. By 2050, it's estimated that 70% of the world's population will live in urban centers.5 At an economic level, cities generate around 80% of the global GDP,6 and are responsible for 80% of energy consumption and more than 70% of carbon emissions and global waste.7

Fox News contributor and New Orleans resident Raymond Arroyo discusses the ongoing crime crisis as New Orleans' murder rate climbs to one of the highest in the world on'Fox & Friends Weekend.' New Orleans city leaders approved a measure Thursday to reinstate the use of facial recognition software as an investigative tool, despite the technology raising privacy concerns, as crime continues to plague the city. The City Council passed a resolution in a 4-2 vote to use the controversial software technology, which is used in tandem with the Real Time Crime Center, a network of more than 500 cameras across the city, WDSU-TV reported. Speaking in support of the technology, police officials pointed to a policy of how facial recognition can be used with measures ensuring accuracy and rules to make sure it is not used as probable cause, NOLA.com reported. In a statement, the New Orleans Police Department thanked the council for passing the ordinance. Police vehicles block access to Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Modern consumers and modern government constituents are the same people. When they order something from Amazon or do their online banking, they increasingly expect those experiences to meet a higher standard of quality than they once did. The same holds true for their interactions with their local governments. In their eyes, if private companies offer advanced technology and convenient features, then logically, public institutions ought to do the same. Unfortunately, few city councils have anything that approaches the same budget as Amazon.

The awful news is that one of Uber's self-driving cars hit and killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona. If anything good is to come from the tragedy, cities need to seize this opportunity to change minds. Right now, while the companies running testbeds in American metropolises are forced to pause, city leaders have a chance to shape the future of autonomous vehicles and ensure they are part of holistic efforts to improve equity and quality of life for all residents. But if politicians simply introduce self-driving cars without conditions, we can expect tragedies on multiple levels. Susan Crawford (@scrawford) is an Ideas contributor for WIRED, a professor at Harvard Law School, author of Captive Audience: The Telecom Industry and Monopoly Power in the New Gilded Age, coauthor of The Responsive City, and a longtime columnist and blogger about tech policy.

Any day now, Uber will introduce a fleet of self-driving cars in Pittsburgh, making this former steel town the world's first city to let passengers hail autonomous vehicles. So with the world watching, what has the city of 306,000 done to prepare for Uber's unprecedented test? The answer is not much. There have been no public service announcements or demonstrations of the technology. Except for the mayor and one police official, no other top city leader has seen a self-driving Uber vehicle operate up close.