Instead of a Lecture on Self-Driving Vehicle Impacts, Do This!
- birina
- Nov 1
- 9 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
If you are planning to give the lecture on the societal impacts of self-driving vehicles, resist the urge to just talk at your students. I understand that you feel the responsibility to share everything you know. I was there too. For many years I gave a lecture for different audiences constantly updating materials and improving my delivery. Only this year I have decided to try something new, and I have not regretted it! The future of transportation is complex, controversial, and best understood through simulation.
I have developed a 1.5-2-hour structured activity that turns the classroom into a city planning task force. Instead of passively listening, students work in small teams (2-3 people) to advise a City Council on a future where 50% of vehicles are fully autonomous by 2045.
Here is how to set it up, the tools you need, and how to adapt it for your specific students.
The Setup
Time: 90-120 Minutes
Tech: Use Mural.com, Miro.com, or Lucid.co for virtual collaboration. If you are in person, large sticker boards or chart paper work perfectly. You also will need a projector for the initial presentation.
Grouping: Divide students into "consulting firms" of 2 or 3 members. Small groups ensure everyone contributes.
The Twist: 5 Distinct Community Scenarios
To make this rigorous, don't let every group analyze the same generic city. Assign each team one of these five distinct community profiles. This forces them to consider context—what works for a suburb might destroy a walkable downtown. Here are some examples to use:
The Sovereign Tribal Nation: A rural community with sovereign governance.
Challenge: Balancing modern connectivity with cultural preservation and land rights. How do AVs impact traditional land use?
The High-Income Suburban Sparse Community: Large lots, gated neighborhoods, and high car dependency.
Challenge: Addressing privacy concerns and the potential for increased urban sprawl/commute distances.
The Walkable Mixed-Residential Community: A dense "15-minute city" where residents walk or bike to shops.
Challenge: Ensuring AVs don't degrade the pedestrian experience or safety. Can AVs replace parking lots to create green space?
The College Town: A place where thousands of students walk, bike, and rush to class, often late at night.
Challenge: If students can't park cars on campus anymore, how do commuters get to class? And how do self-driving cars handle thousands of students jaywalking while looking at their phones?
The Historic Tourist Center: Narrow, cobblestone streets with high foot traffic.
Challenge: Navigating modern technology in preserved infrastructure without ruining the aesthetic or tourist economy.
The Activity Flow (90-120 Minutes)
Part 1: The Foundation (30 Minutes)
(10 minutes) Start by defining the levels of autonomy (Level 0 to Level 5). This can be reduced by introducing only fully autonomous cars (Level 5). The best way to highlight the capabilities is to showcase currently available demonstrations (check at youtube Waymo, Zoox, Nuro).
(5 minutes) Task: Ask teams create a T-Chart. On one side, they list the "Pro-Self-Driving" arguments; on the other, the "Anti-Self-Driving" arguments.
Tech Tip: Encourage them to use LLMs to brainstorm unexpected arguments.
If you have only few teams (2-6), you can use one T-Chart and ask everyone to contribute to it. If more students are participating (7 and more), consider making one T-Chart for every 5-6 teams depending on room set up.
Title for T-Chart: Self-Driving vehicles will impact society (major title) … positively by (left subside)…negatively by (right subtitle).
Add one positive and negative to the central (if you have many) T-Chart if you think the audience will need some help. For example:
…by allowing me to go where I want without the need to learn to drive.
…by removing jobs that deal with driving education.
(15 minutes) Finally, discuss some (or all) provided arguments. Some will repeat each other. It is a good idea to walk between teams to see the progress and note what arguments are produced.
Part 2: Concept Mapping (10-20 Minutes)
This is where they see the bigger picture. Ask students to draw a concept map connecting AVs to "external" systems like Urban Planning, Public Transportation, The Economy, and Social Equity.
(10-20 minutes) Task: Each team works with a randomly assigned community to create a concept mapping.
Prompt for general audience: It is 2045. You are advising the City Council. Explore your community using provided infographics and identify how relationships to external systems will change when 50% of cars are Level 5 / Self-driving. Start your sentences as "We believe AVs will decrease public transit funding because..." Systems to consider:
Urban Planning
Public Transportation
The Local Economy
Social Equity
Prompt for younger audience: It is 2045. You are youth consultants advising the City Council what the next generation needs. Explore your community using provided infographics and identify how relationships to external systems will change when 50% of cars are Level 5 / Self-driving. Start your sentences as "We believe AVs will decrease public transit funding because..." Systems to consider:
The "First Job" Market (The Economy)
The "Friday Night" & Social Life (Social Equity/Culture)
School Commute & Safety (Public Transportation)
Parking Lots vs. Parks (Urban Planning)
The "Privacy" (Law & Ethics)
The Cost of a Ride (Social Equity)
Tip: Walk between teams, ask them to imagine themselves as a part of this community, try to motivate them to create a vivid description of life in such a community.
Concept mapping should be also created on the sticker boards or any used online board. Depending on available time, ask teams to add their responses to all of limited number of external systems (1-2-3). This is another way, the length of this section can vary.
Preparation (optional):
Put (printed) picture with community infographics in the middle of the board and draw arrows with external systems names on them.
Part 3: The Scenario & Policy Pitch (25-35 Minutes)
This is the synthesis phase. Students move from analyzing relationships to creative problem-solving. They must prioritize the issues they found and propose a concrete solution.
(15 minutes) Task: Based on their concept map and community profile, teams must identify the top one/two opportunities and top one/two risks. Then, they must develop one specific policy recommendation to address one or some of them. Finally, they present a "Brief."
Prompt for General Audience: "You are the special task force advising the City Council on the 2045 transition. Based on your analysis, identify the top one/two opportunities and top one/two risks for this specific community. After that, draft a Policy Brief (1 Slide). Your policy must explicitly maximize one of the opportunities or minimize one of the risks you identified. You will have 1(3) minutes to present your brief to the Council."
Prompt for Younger Audience: "As Youth Consultants, you need to give the City Council a clear set of rules. Look at your map: What is the best thing that could happen (opportunity) and the scariest thing that could happen (risk) when self-driving vehicles dominate the car flow? Choose ONE of those. Create a 'Future Law' proposal to make sure the good thing happens—or the scary thing doesn't. Create a campaign poster (or slide) explaining your law.
Example: If the risk is 'No Summer Jobs,' your Law might be: 'Robots cannot deliver pizza; only humans can.'"
Tips:
For the Pitch: Encourage students to use NapkinAI for one slide ideas. Have an example prepared to show them, how it helped to generate visual.
For the Policy: Push students to be specific. If they say "Make it safe," ask "How? Speed limits? dedicated lanes? sensors on street corners?"
Time Management: Be strict with the "1(3)-minute" presentation limit to simulate a real council hearing environment.
(10-20 minutes) Presentation Task: one representative from the team gives a 1(3) minute presentation on proposed police. Consider asking the audience to vote if they are convinced to implement it or not. Choose presentation time based on the number of teams. Based on my experience, 1 minute is more than enough.
Preparation (Optional):
Provide a "Policy Brief Template" on the board with three boxes:
The Challenge: (Which Risk/Opportunity did you pick?)
The Solution: (What is your policy/law?)
The Proof: (Why will this work? Reference your concept map).
If using NapkinAI, prepare a challenge/solution/proof chain and create visuals in front of the student, briefly walk them through the provided ideas to show the thinking behind the visualization selection.
If using Mural/Miro, add a voting area so the class can vote with which "Consulting Firm" they agree.
Adapt It For Different Audience
For High School Students:
Focus: Personal impact and safety.
Scaffolding: Give them a pre-filled list of stakeholders that live in assigned areas (e.g., "The Soccer Mom," "The Truck Driver," "The Mayor") to help them roleplay.
For College/University Students:
Focus: Systems thinking, equity, and economic modeling.
Challenge: Require them to back their policy with a specific funding mechanism (e.g., "How will the city pay for the infrastructure upgrades required for AVs?").
Tech: Encourage the use of tools like NapkinLM to generate visual aids for their final briefs.
Let me know how it goes and good luck!
******
Examples of Community Infographics Generated with Gemini are presented below. You can use this prompt as a starting point to create your own community description:
***A vertical infographic flyer in a friendly, colorful cartoon style. Top section: A vibrant scene of a "Sovereign Tribal Nation" community with an open-air market having colorful stalls, set against wide open landscapes and mountains. Show a mix of traditional indigenous cultural buildings and small modern houses. Show children playing outside and people walking on dirt trails. Show a road with a modern car and a person on a horse side-by-side. Bottom section: A clean layout for text statistics with icons. Icons should represent "No Signal/WiFi," "Gravel Roads," "School," "Church," and "Shuttle Bus." The overall vibe is sunny, community-focused, and rural.
Text Content for the Flyer
THE SOVEREIGN TRIBAL NATION Where Tradition Meets the Horizon
Community Profile
Population: 8,000 (Spread over 400 sq. miles)
Median Income: $38,000
Connectivity: Low. 40% of the territory lacks high-speed 5G/Internet.
Governance: Sovereign. (State laws do not automatically apply).
Mobility & Life
Getting Around: High dependence on Cars & Horses (Vast distances to connect to the outside world).
Roads: 30% are Unpaved/Gravel (Challenging for standard robots).
Public Transit: Limited Shuttle (Runs only twice a day).
The Vibe: Highly walkable village core. Children play outside safely. extensive network of walking trails.
Key Landmarks 1 School | 1 Post Office | Local Library | 1 Church | Tourist Center***
*** A vertical infographic flyer in a friendly, colorful cartoon style. Top section: A bustling university campus scene mixing historic brick clock towers with sleek modern glass dorms. Show crowds of students wearing backpacks crossing the street; many are looking down at their smartphones (distracted). Show electric scooters scattered everywhere on the sidewalks ("scooter clutter"). Bottom section: A clean layout for text statistics with icons. Icons should represent "Graduation Cap," "Young Adult (18-24)," "No Parking Sign," "Electric Scooter," and "Smartphone with Warning/Exclamation Mark." The overall vibe is chaotic, youthful, and busy.
Text Content for the Flyer
THE COLLEGE TOWN The University Zone
Community Profile
Population: 30,000 (Seasonal/Fluctuating).
Demographics: 70% are aged 18–24 (Gen Z / Alpha).
Economy: Dominated by University employment and service jobs (late-night food/retail).
Mobility & Life
Parking Crisis: Zero Availability. Students park illegally or miles away.
Micro-Mobility: High Usage of e-scooters and skateboards (often abandoned on sidewalks).
Safety Issue: "Distracted Walking" (Students crossing streets while looking at phones) is the number one cause of accidents. ***
*** A vertical infographic flyer in a friendly, colorful cartoon style. Top section: A lively urban street scene with 4-story brick apartment buildings. The ground floors have colorful cafes and flower shops with awnings. Show a dedicated green bike lane filled with cyclists and scooters. Show parents with strollers and young professionals walking on wide sidewalks. There are very few cars, but show a subway/metro entrance. Bottom section: A clean layout for text statistics with icons. Icons should represent "Apartment Building," "Bicycle," "Metro Train," "Parking Garage with a Red X," and "Caution/Collision." The overall vibe is energetic, dense, and hip.
Text Content for the Flyer
THE WALKABLE MIXED-USE HUB The "15-Minute City" Lifestyle
Community Profile
Population: 25,000 (High Density).
Demographics: Young professionals and young families.
Space Problem: 25% of all land is currently wasted on street parking and concrete garages.
Mobility & Life
Car Ownership: Low. (40% of residents do not own a car).
Primary Transport: Walking, Biking, and Metro.
Safety: High Risk. Frequent pedestrian accidents caused by human drivers failing to yield. ***
*** A vertical infographic flyer in a friendly, colorful cartoon style. Top section: A charming "Old World" historic district. Show very narrow cobblestone streets lined with old brick souvenir shops and historic lanterns. Show a horse-drawn carriage sharing the tight road with a large, stuck tour bus. Crowds of tourists with cameras are walking everywhere in the street (no sidewalks). Bottom section: A clean layout for text statistics with icons. Icons should represent "Camera/Tourist," "Horse head," "Traffic Jam," "No Cell Tower symbol," and "Old Scroll/History." The overall vibe is beautiful, historic, but very crowded and tight.
Text Content for the Flyer
THE HISTORIC TOURIST CENTER Preserving the Past, Surviving the Crowds
Community Profile
Population: 5,000 Residents ...but 20,000 Visitors every single day.
Economy: 85% Tourism-based. (If the tourists stop coming, the town dies).
Infrastructure: Roads built in the 18th century (Too narrow for modern buses).
Mobility & Life
Traffic: Severe Congestion caused by massive tour buses and delivery trucks trying to squeeze through tiny streets.
Pedestrian Zone: Heavy foot traffic mixed with vehicles (dangerous and chaotic).
Aesthetic Code: Strict Laws against "ugly" modern technology (No visible cell towers, neon signs, or modern boxes). ***
*** A vertical infographic flyer in a friendly, colorful cartoon style. Top section: A bird's-eye view of a wealthy suburban neighborhood. Show winding cul-de-sacs with large, identical mansions having 2-car garages and perfect green lawns. Show a fancy "Gated Community" entrance with a security booth. There are no sidewalks, only smooth black asphalt roads with luxury SUVs driving on them. Bottom section: A clean layout for text statistics with icons. Icons should represent "High Income/Money Bag," "Stopwatch (Long Commute)," "3 Cars in a row," "No Bus sign," and "Privacy Fence." The overall vibe is exclusive, quiet, and very spacious.
Text Content for the Flyer
THE HIGH-INCOME SUBURBAN SPARK Privacy, Comfort, and the Long Commute
Community Profile
Population: 15,000
Median Income: $140,000 (High Wealth).
Housing: 100% Single Family Homes (Low Density).
Commute: 45+ Minutes to the city center (High "Windshield Time").
Mobility & Life
Vehicles: 2.5 per Household (Teens and parents all have their own cars).
Public Transit: 0% Usage (No bus stops exist here; residents view buses as "unsafe" or "unnecessary").
Walkability Score: 10/100 (No sidewalks. Roads are designed for vehicles only).***
Comments