Emphatically, it does not. Passing your drivers test may require being able to read, but plenty of illiterate people around the world drive just fine.
There is a reason we made all the common road signs recognisable purely by shape/colour, after all.
Though it is true you don't need to be able to read to operate a vehicle, you /do/ need to be able to read to operate a vehicle safely.
And for those who can read: could you teach someone how to drive using an LLM? Sure. Safely? Probably not.
[0] https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/operations/roads-and-waterw...
Especially important in places like Europe, where it's common for the driver to be able to read, but unable to speak the language of the country they are currently driving through. I can't speak any Polish, but can travel on Polish roads just fine
1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prohibitory_traffic_sign#No_en...
Then there is Hanoi.
Not really. You just need to be able to decipher the sign, which is trivial, even if you can't read it or spell it.
But in situations that could be ambiguous, I think this is a regional difference - the US, Australia, part of the rest of the Americas use lots of text on road signs (including literal "wrong way" signs); Europe and much of the rest of the world use far less text (including purely pictographic "wrong way" signs). Especially important in Europe where drivers just can't learn 20+ languages.
These signs, you mean? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prohibitory_traffic_sign#No_U-...
It's also trivial to do a u turn even when you can read, know what the sign says, and you feel like doing one because no car is coming anyway, and millions of people do that everyday too.
And whole lot of people have done stupid shit like that while perfectly able to read, many even with masters and PhDs.
It is really strange to see comments like this here, where people seem to reduce some basic human action into how it would work in a text-only computer game. Driving itself requires mainly muscular memory how to operate the car, which why people who drive a lot can just go on autopilot and think something completely different when driving long distances. That is of course a form of kno, but you only get it through repetition. Of course driving in traffic requires far more, basic understanding of traffic law etc, but most of driving is muscle memory, understanding the vehicle and anticipating future occurrences. Why we apes are so good at this is because we have some million years of evolution of just using our bodies and seeing what happens. And of course we all seen the gif of an orangutang driving a golf cart (how real it is I’m uncertain), so there’s that.
I think might help to think models not as some future replicants, but models with certain capabilities in certain domains. It probably doesn’t make much sense to ask Opus 4.8 to drive you around as it doesn’t make sense to except a small image model made for edge devices to be able to write a novel. Perhaps we should just think of them as tools with certain applications they are made for.
I would be interested to see a formal study of this. I say this not out of anything other than a observation that I think the only real blockers are a) judgement, and b) physical reflexes/strength. As a kid I was certainly aware of ice,snow, and rain, because I road my bike year round and had low confidence in my own ability to control my bike on snowy or wet terrain, especially during season changes. That translated into learning to drive in northern Canada in the winter and applying those lessons to driving.
In an environment devoid of consequences, I have seen kids operate driving simulations (both real simulations, and video games) with a degree of precision that is shocking, including seeing several 9-11 year olds play the simulations and games with a much higher degree of confidence than adult drivers. Children have an awareness that the simulations are consequence free, unless given other motivation. Adults that are consistent drivers have muscle memory and preconceived expectations that govern the decisions they make when playing the game. I am curious about the level of training and exposure required for children to overcome their lack of awareness of the hard limits and consequences of driving and driver error, versus the amount of training and exposure required for expert drivers that are novice gamers to stop applying their learned experience to consequence free simulations.
(i'm above average in both)
Different times though.
This requires not only knowledge, but also the control systems that develop with the prefrontal cortex. LLMs don't do much control yet.
Conflation. That's to drive a car safely. To just drive a car one only need know to press gas to move, press brake to stop, turn steering wheel to change direction and maybe use a gear stick to shift into drive/park (car can be modified to abstract that away). Not much more complex than riding a bicycle; maybe even less since no need to learn to balance.
Millions of people do drive who can't read. It's very common in parts of Asia, Africa, Latin America, etc, especially rural, but even in cities.
There are places where oral exams and audio-assisted testing is allowed. And there are places where people just drive (and drive fine) not bothering with a license.