Reputation in M2M Economy: A Case Study of Electric Autonomous Vehicles

Triggered by modern technologies, our possibilities may now expand beyond the unthinkable. Cars externally may look similar to decades ago, but a dramatic revolution happened inside the cabin as a result of their computation, communications, and storage capabilities. With the advent of Electric Autonomous Vehicles (EAVs), Artificial Intelligence and ecological technologies found the best synergy. Several transportation problems may be solved (accidents, emissions, and congestion among others), and the foundation of Machine-to-Machine (M2M) economy could be established, in addition to value-added services such as infotainment (information and entertainment). In the world where intelligent technologies are pervading everyday life, software and algorithms play a major role. Software has been lately introduced in virtually every technological product available on the market, from phones to television sets to cars and even housing. Artificial Intelligence is one of the consequences of this pervasive presence of algorithms. The role of software is becoming dominant and technology is, at times pervasive, of our existence. Concerns, such as privacy and security, demand high attention and have been already explored to some level of detail. However, intelligent agents and actors are often considered as perfect entities that will overcome human error-prone nature. This may not always be the case and we advocate that the notion of reputation is also applicable to intelligent artificial agents, in particular to EAVs.