After Bashing Artificial Intelligence, Elon Musk Says Autonomous Tesla Around Corner
Elon Musk wants to get a jump on Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) and other firms blazing trails in autonomous driving applications and is so confident, he thinks Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) Inc. is ready to launch an application, but just don’t drive at dusk.
The car will learn over time, but there is a min caliber of starting quality.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 31, 2015
Final corner case is dealing with low contrast lane markings (faded white on grey concrete) while driving into the sun at dusk
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 31, 2015
Almost ready to release highway autosteer and parallel autopark software update
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 31, 2015
Elon Musk says Tesla almost ready for autonomous car, but just don’t drive into a setting sun
Tesla’s Model S cars already come with a built-in driver assist system. Many of the components can be used in a self-driving vehicle, including the forward radar, a camera founded on the rear-view mirror, and a series of twelve sensors that surround the car and can detect an approaching object within 16 feet of the car.
Tesla’s foray into automated assisted driving has been gradual. Last year the firm added features such as lane-departure warnings that would alert the driver when they might have fallen asleep at the wheel and veered off the road. The same technology, adapted slightly, can be used to keep an autonomous car on the road safely. Earlier this year Tesla released adaptive cruise control, blind-spot warning and a forward-collision warning system — all components that can be used to various degrees in an entirely automated vehicle.
In a Tweet the CEO of the popular high-end electronic car manufacturer said Friday the company is “almost ready” to allow cars to operate without human guidance, but a few issues need to be sorted out.
For instance, before the cars can traverse down the road without a human behind the wheel, merging in traffic and parallel parking a little glitch needs to be considered. This includes low contrast lane markings, such as faded white on gray concrete, and while driving into the sun at dusk, which can challenge a human’s vision as well as a computer-driven optical system.
But don’t worry, “the car will learn over time,” Tweeted Musk.
Elon Musk previously invested in AI, then was highly critical of military applications of AI
Machines learning over time is an interesting topic for Musk. As reported in ValueWalk, Musk initially questioned artificial intelligence on June 18, 2014 in a CNBC interview with Kelly Evans. In that interview Musk revealed that he was invested in an artificial intelligence company “not from the standpoint of actually trying to make any investment return,” he said. “I like to just keep an eye on what’s going on with artificial intelligence. I think there is potentially a dangerous outcome there.”
Did that investment in artificial intelligence pay off as Musk developed an automated driving application for Tesla? This is publicly unknown. But the philanthropic billionaire, who’s estimated $11.9 billion net worth has been put to use financing studies of artificial intelligence, recently championed a new cause.
Musk, along with a group of 1,000 people, including Stephen Hawking, Steve Wozniak and Noam Chomsky, signed a letter requesting a ban on autonomous military robots. The letter was delivered to the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Buenos Aires and is signed by a variety of people in the world of technology, space travel, computers and mathematics. Musk, for his part, has been one to question the potential negative impacts artificial intelligence could cause society, funding research on the topic and speaking out in public, as reported in ValueWalk. Hawking in May also warned that “Artificial Intelligence could end humanity.
While artificial intelligence might end humanity, at least let’s hope it doesn’t happen before we can get it to drive around a crowded city neighborhood and find parking for us and then fit into a notoriously small parking spot.
URL: After Bashing Artificial Intelligence, Elon Musk Says Autonomous Tesla Around Corner
Source: Google Alerts for AI
