I feel like our AI research at physical world falls so much behind language-level AI, that our reasoning might be clouded.

Compare Boston Dynamics and cat. They are on the absolutely different levels for their bodies and their ability to manipulate their bodies.

I have no doubts, that using cameras-only would absolutely work for AI cars, but at the same time I'm feel that this kind of AI is not there. And if we want autonomous cars, it might be possible, but we need to equip them with as much sensors as necessary, not setting any artificial boundaries.

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threatofrain 5 days ago | parent [-]

But lidar is basically a cheat code, whether or not optical is sufficient. Why wait for end stage driving AI? Why not use cheat codes and wait for cheaper technology later?

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Rohansi 5 days ago | parent [-]

I honestly think Tesla is past the point where lidar would provide significant benefits. I've tried FSD for a month or two and it can see everything but just drives like an idiot. Lidar isn't going to help it merge properly, change lanes smoothly, take left turns at lights without blocking traffic, etc.

Check out what the Tesla park assist visualization shows now. It's vision based and shows a 3D recreation of the world around the car. You can pan around to see what's there and how far away it is. It's fun to play around with in drive thrus, garages, etc. just to see what it sees.

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threatofrain 5 days ago | parent [-]

It should help for disambiguating scenarios that lead to phantom stops or not stopping on time, which has killed Tesla drivers before, such as by driving full speed into the back of a truck with some glare.

	▲	Rohansi 5 days ago \| parent [-]
		Maybe? I don't remember the cases but there is some confusion with autopilot (cruise control) vs. FSD sometimes. Autopilot is a completely different system and nobody should be surprised if it leads to crashes when misused.