Naveen Rao argues that putting autonomous robots in racing supercars turns a human sport into an engineering contest

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@NaveenGRao @SawyerMerritt The robot beat the human. It is better at driving than humans are. Even professional ones. And it was a TON of fun and the racing was every bit as interesting as a human one.

Naveen Rao@NaveenGRao

Agreed that driving a Ferrari in traffic is dumb...so what? Teslas are better at being in traffic. Yes. That's about transportation, not driving. Racing robots is fun as an engineering competition...sure. But it's not the same as a human performance sport. I don't expect this to grow much becuase it's really neither here nor there. Audience can't connect to a human who is performing, and the racing is kinda shit. Maybe the bot driving performance will get better, but again, why does this matter as far as human experience goes? That's not a sport. It's a demonstration. I think it's a worthy effort to make robots solve very hard problems (driving a race car at the limit is actually one of the hardest task for a robot to perform at top human level), but it's still not a sport. And it'll never be. It's a game. You could do the same thing in a simulation right now.

23h5900

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Naveen Rao@NaveenGRao

Agreed that driving a Ferrari in traffic is dumb...so what? Teslas are better at being in traffic. Yes. That's about transportation, not driving. Racing robots is fun as an engineering competition...sure. But it's not the same as a human performance sport. I don't expect this to grow much becuase it's really neither here nor there. Audience can't connect to a human who is performing, and the racing is kinda shit. Maybe the bot driving performance will get better, but again, why does this matter as far as human experience goes? That's not a sport. It's a demonstration. I think it's a worthy effort to make robots solve very hard problems (driving a race car at the limit is actually one of the hardest task for a robot to perform at top human level), but it's still not a sport. And it'll never be. It's a game. You could do the same thing in a simulation right now.

Robert Scoble@Scobleizer

Oh, I know more than I'm letting on to.

At 120 m.p.h. a Ferrari I was driving a year or so ago started making love to me.

But you are also missing the point.

Experience can be radically improved with technology too.

The two approaches will be fun to watch.

Driving a Ferrari in stop and go Los Angeles traffic is NOT a good experience compared to a Tesla.

So experience is all about context.

And there is a club of people who put robots into $500,000 super cars, so I know some are into racing robots.

Today that's a tiny niche in the super car genre.

But I expect it to grow.

Wait until a super car is driving you around a track smoother than you can. And faster.

That will be an experience many will want too.

23h4520

Naveen Rao@NaveenGRao

@Scobleizer @SawyerMerritt Show me that data. I’ve never seen a robot beat a pro driver on a track. But that’s besides the point….i have no doubt that machines will be able to drive faster than a human at some point. Still not a sport.

Robert Scoble@Scobleizer

@NaveenGRao @SawyerMerritt The robot beat the human. It is better at driving than humans are. Even professional ones. And it was a TON of fun and the racing was every bit as interesting as a human one.

23h3410

Naveen Rao@NaveenGRao

Agreed that driving a Ferrari in traffic is dumb...so what? Teslas are better at being in traffic. Yes. That's about transportation, not driving. Racing robots is fun as an engineering competition...sure. But it's not the same as a human performance sport. I don't expect this to grow much becuase it's really neither here nor there. Audience can't connect to a human who is performing, and the racing is kinda shit. Maybe the bot driving performance will get better, but again, why does this matter as far as human experience goes? That's not a sport. It's a demonstration. I think it's a worthy effort to make robots solve very hard problems (driving a race car at the limit is actually one of the hardest task for a robot to perform at top human level), but it's still not a sport. And it'll never be. It's a game. You could do the same thing in a simulation right now.

Robert Scoble@Scobleizer

Oh, I know more than I'm letting on to.

At 120 m.p.h. a Ferrari I was driving a year or so ago started making love to me.

But you are also missing the point.

Experience can be radically improved with technology too.

The two approaches will be fun to watch.

Driving a Ferrari in stop and go Los Angeles traffic is NOT a good experience compared to a Tesla.

So experience is all about context.

And there is a club of people who put robots into $500,000 super cars, so I know some are into racing robots.

Today that's a tiny niche in the super car genre.

But I expect it to grow.

Wait until a super car is driving you around a track smoother than you can. And faster.

That will be an experience many will want too.

23h2000