Like it or not, self driving cars are here. They aren’t quite common yet but they’re getting more and more popular. Tesla’s self driving seems to be getting more advanced by the moment, with video clips showing it managing new problems appearing on the internet fairly often.
As it turns out, though, the autopilot system in the Tesla’s vehicle is still struggling with a few things. For example: trying to figure out what a bison is, exactly.
This video was posted to Instagram by Yellowstone wildlife photographer Trent Sizemore (who takes incredible photos, by the way). In it, Trent passes a heard of bison in his Tesla (obviously) and films the car’s computer screen as it tries to decipher its surroundings.
The Tesla AI seems very confused about the large animals on the side of the road. It knows the cars parked not he side of the road just fine. It can even tell you which door is open on those cars. But put a bison next to it and it’ll be stuck trying to figure out if it’s a human or a large dog.
“I’ve been hoping to drive by some bison to see what our Tesla sees them as. Apparently, they’re people, and then large and small dogs.” – Trent Sizemore
I’m not huge into cars, and I’m certainly not an expert in AI, so I can’t tell you if this would have any harmful effects towards the autopilot. Maybe the confusion would lead to the car stopping too late, but that doesn’t seem realistic to me. As long as the vehicle knows there’s an object there, it should stop, right?
No matter, it’s pretty neat (and a little weird) to watch this vehicle try to understand its surroundings. The future is now.
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Image Credit: Trent Sizemore via Instagram