For the last few months, Uber's self-driving cars have been prowling the streets of San Francisco, forecasting the inevitable moment when the ride-hailing giant starts inviting passengers to take autonomous trips in the city where it first launched over seven years ago. That moment has finally arrived. 

Starting today, anyone in San Francisco who hails an UberX could find themselves in the backseat of a luxury, self-driving Volvo XC90, complete with leather interior, spinning LIDAR sensor, and a trunk full of computing power. It's where I found myself last week, after being invited out to the Bay Area for a sneak peak before the official launch.

With a fine mist in the air, the car drove itself through South of Market with little fanfare, navigating turns and yielding for distracted pedestrians without any human intervention. The car's spinning LIDAR sensor and rooftop camera array definitely elicited a few slack-jawed stares from passersby. There were two Uber employees in the front seats, but it was clear that it was the car, not the humans, that was shepherding me into this strange and uncertain future.