Tesla’s slump: When social intelligence clashes with artificial intelligence
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Tesla shares were at a five-month low, Tesla showrooms in the US are being vandalized, Tesla cybertrucks were set on fire in Seattle, and the electric vehicle maker’s sales are down in the US and Europe. That US President Donald Trump has bought a Tesla car might seem like good news, signalling support at the highest level.
But that might only serve to worsen Tesla’s fortunes. The key problem underlying Tesla’s woes is the conflict between the social intelligence underpinning the sale of electric vehicles and the society-agnostic vision of tech-driven progress that the company's chief executive Elon Musk stands for. Social imagination is definitely getting the better of technological aspirations.
In the US, the people who are willing to invest in an electric car tend to be those who are willing to take on a certain amount of personal inconvenience in the service of the larger public good. Electric cars are more expensive than conventional internal combustion engine cars, and come with attendant anxieties such as concerns about how far the car can go and about its battery draining while stuck in a traffic jam. Those willing to take on these risks and pay extra to buy a Tesla are typically those who care for the climate and believe in the ability of technology and human ingenuity to solve society’s problems—with the help of supportive government policy and, if needed, government funds.
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