In the piece — titled “Can You Fool a Self Driving Car?” — Rober found that a Tesla car on Autopilot was fooled by a Wile E. Coyote-style wall painted to look like the road ahead of it, with the electric vehicle plowing right through it instead of stopping.
The footage was damning enough, with slow-motion clips showing the car not only crashing through the styrofoam wall but also a mannequin of a child. The Tesla was also fooled by simulated rain and fog.
and fire trucks. and little kids. and, uh, lots of things really.
I have seen trucks with landscape scenes painted on the side and I’ve never crashed into one of those thinking that it was a portal to a random sunlit field.
see, that’s what you’re supposed to think. because you’re not special. but really, it’s a secret portal to a magical world, a world that’s very exciting for a few seconds.