Self driving cars seem scary. What if they looked cute?

Today, I had a first. I was crossing the street when a self driving car slowed to a halt in front of me. And nobody was in the car. I looked in at a steering wheel adjusting itself slightly with no hands on the wheel. I froze momentarily in the middle of the sidewalk in surprise, and fortunately so did the car! I've seen these driving around the city for a long time, but I've never actually come face-to-face with a driverless car that could (if it wished to or got confused) speed up and run me right over.

Part of what made me feel so uncomfortable was how the car looked. The cars seem jerry rigged, duct taped, and eerie. These things remind me of the tricked out cobbled together cars from the Mad Max movies. It does not inspire confidence.

This got me thinking. How would I feel if the car looked like a cute animal, moseying around in its own pleasant and calm way? The honest truth? I'd feel way less threatened.

I couldn't help but reach for Midjourney to try to imagine what a calming future self driving car might look like.

Imagine a bunny car, where the ears are actually some of the sensors self driving cars rely on.

Or taking inspiration from the classic Volkswagen Beetle, what if a self driving car looked like a ladybug?

Naturally at this point, I realized I should have asked ChatGPT for ideas. So I did.

I loved the turtle idea, so I gave ChatGPT's literal prompt to Midjourney this time.

I am no car engineer! And I know most self driving cars today are intentionally "bolt on" setups on top of existing car models, to make it easier to test. But man, what is it going to feel like once these are designed from scratch for self driving? (My view: amazing!)

What do you think our future friendly self driving cars might look like?