When Self-Driving Becomes the Default, Why Would Humans Need to Relearn How to Drive?

A Ridiculous Premise That Asks a Real Question

A short film recently making waves on Bilibili — AI Skit Episode 4: Driving School — uses a brilliantly imaginative setup to pose a genuinely thought-provoking question: once fully autonomous driving becomes standard in every car, would humans actually need to obtain a special license just to drive manually?

The film is set in the distant future, where a certain car model has achieved complete self-driving capability — "lane changes, parking, all handled automatically; you don't just take your hands off the wheel, you could drive with your eyes closed." The twist comes when an elderly man with "600 years of driving experience" test-rides the vehicle and declares, "Boring. I'm not buying it," because "driving used to be something between me and the car — now the car's got nothing to do with me."

What sounds like a throwaway joke actually pinpoints a genuine psychological and experiential gap that full autonomy might create: when machines take over everything, the human sense of presence in the act of driving is completely erased. This isn't just a technical issue — it's a deeper question about the relationship between humans and machines.

From "Driver" to "Passenger Cargo": A Shift in Identity

The elderly man in the film describes himself as feeling "like a parcel" — a remarkably apt metaphor. In a fully autonomous driving scenario, humans are demoted from "driver" to "freight being transported," stripped of agency, participation, and any sense of control.

This touches on a paradox that has been repeatedly debated in the development of intelligent driving: technology aims to liberate humans, but excessive liberation can lead to a loss of meaning and purpose. It's like how escalators spare us from climbing stairs, yet people voluntarily use stair-climbing machines at the gym. For many, driving isn't just a means of getting from A to B — it's a source of control, enjoyment, and even emotional connection.

The film's clever move is to materialize this "nostalgia for driving" into a skill that must be relearned and tested — a course called "Restoration of the Human Driving Experience" — as if hinting that manual driving in the future will become a rare, artisanal pursuit, much like mechanical watch movements or vinyl records today: a luxury retro experience requiring dedicated study.

The Dark Comedy of "Theory Test": The Art of Human Communication

The most memorable scene in the film involves the redesigned driving exam. The "Theory Test" poses this question:

Grandpa is driving. Grandma in the passenger seat says, "Just drive however you like." What does this mean?

The correct answer isn't "Grandpa has full decision-making authority" — it's "do everything according to Grandma's wishes." The film quips: "This is the art of human communication. You can drive however you want, as long as it happens to match what she wants."

This segment contains a sharp insight into the limits of AI capability. Current large language models and autonomous driving systems still fall significantly short when it comes to implied meaning, context-dependence, and emotional subtext. "Just drive however you like" — a phrase whose literal meaning is the exact opposite of its true intent — is precisely the kind of expression that algorithms struggle most to parse. By framing this through comedy, the film actually highlights those subtle dimensions of human communication that machines find nearly impossible to replicate.

The "Wall-Hugging Instructor" and the Rigidity of Algorithms

The practical driving test segment is equally satirical. The system scans and reports that the candidate is "50 centimeters from the left, 50 centimeters from the right, zero deviation" — perfectly centered — yet the verdict is "Failed." Why? Because the instructor "loves hugging the wall." The candidate retakes the test, deliberately driving "28 centimeters left, 72 centimeters right," and passes.

Absurd on the surface, this scenario actually reflects two very real issues:

The Subjectivity of Standards

What counts as "qualified" often depends on the preferences of whoever sets the standard, not some objective optimum. Machines excel at pursuing mathematical precision and symmetry, but the human notion of "good" frequently carries personal, irrational elements.

Human Imperfection as a Feature

The references to "hugging the wall" and "giving grandpa that thrill" suggest that what human drivers seek isn't absolute safety or precision, but the experiential quality that comes with a degree of risk and personality. This is precisely what autonomous systems work hard to eliminate — and exactly what some users find themselves missing.

Reading the Sketch as a Mirror of the Real Industry

Stripping away the sci-fi wrapper, this short film lands squarely on several genuine pain points facing the autonomous driving industry today:

First, a polarized user experience. Some users welcome complete liberation from driving; others can't let go of the sense of participation it provides. Automakers need to find a balance between "full takeover" and "preserving control" — which is precisely why current L2 and L3 driver assistance systems consistently emphasize "human-machine co-driving."

Second, the psychological tug-of-war between trust and control. The elderly man's unease even when told he "could drive with his eyes closed" reflects the reality that building user trust in autonomous systems takes time. The desire for control is an instinct deeply embedded in human nature.

Third, the ceiling of semantic understanding. Ambiguous instructions like "just drive however you like" remind us that no matter how sophisticated autonomous driving technology becomes, AI still has a long road ahead when it comes to natural interaction with humans.

Conclusion: The Endpoint of Technology Is Understanding People

Driving School uses an inverted premise to execute a brilliant thought experiment: when autonomous driving is perfected, humans might actually have to work to "restore" the pleasure of driving manually. This is a reminder to everyone in tech — the point of technological progress is not to eliminate human participation, but to give people the freedom to choose.

However autonomous driving evolves in the future, the human needs for control, enjoyment, communication, and individuality will always be something no algorithm can fully replace. And perhaps that's the most lasting takeaway from this brief AI skit — one well worth sitting with.