Truly autonomous cars may be impossible without helpful human touch

An operator controls a Fetch driverless car from the office of Imperium Drive, during driverless car trials, in Milton Keynes, Britain, June 8, 2022. REUTERS/Andrew Boyers

MILTON KEYNES, England (Reuters) -Autonomous vehicle (AV) startups have raised tens of billions of dollars based on promises to develop truly self-driving cars, but industry executives and experts say remote human supervisors may be needed permanently to help robot drivers in trouble.

The central premise of autonomous vehicles - that computers and artificial intelligence will dramatically reduce accidents caused by human error - has driven much of the research and investment.