Different approaches: Autonomous vehicles: Will Google’s Waymo or Tesla win the race? | message

Waymo and Tesla compete in autonomous vehicles
Competitors use different types of artificial intelligence
A look at the evolutionary development of higher intelligence

The transition from analog to digital intelligence represents a significant transformation. It may even be comparable to the invasion of vertebrates from water to land. Because as the “Neue Zricher Zeitung” reports, brain researcher Malcolm MacIver, professor at Northwestern University, is convinced that this transition has also brought about the great transformation of intelligence.

The development of intelligence

A look back may therefore also provide an indication of which concept – that of Tesla or that of Waymo – will prevail. According to MacIver, the evolutionary success of vertebrates is due to their sight. Thanks to this, they were able to develop certain cognitive skills for planning and reacting to the environment. The basis for advanced intelligence was laid.

Thanks to this evolutionary advantage, according to MacIver, the vertebrates took over dominance in the country. This is because the invertebrates that previously lived on land cannot react quickly to changes because they have to rely on a stored version of their environment.

The Waymo and Tesla concepts

This evolutionary competition between two intelligence versions certainly shows parallels to the current competition between Tesla and Waymo in the development of an autonomous car.

Waymo relies on independent learning by capturing and interpreting the environment. The vehicles use lasers to generate a detailed 3D map of the environment and software then compares this generated map with high-resolution maps. Since the Waymo vehicles use stored digital maps to orient themselves, these maps have to be adapted quickly if the environment changes.

Tesla, on the other hand, adopts the vertebrate approach. The vehicles of the Electric car-Pioneers navigate using computer vision and reactive planning. To do this, Tesla combines redundant camera, radar and ultrasound systems with powerful image processing. However, this requires significantly more computing power than the Waymo approach.

From an evolutionary point of view, one could conclude that Tesla could establish itself with its reactive planning concept in self-driving cars. But investors should keep in mind that it took millions of years for evolution to produce higher intelligence. The race for everyday autonomous vehicles will therefore remain exciting.

Finanzen.net editors

Image Sources: Smith Collection / Gado / Getty Images, Waymo