Ever since Dan O'Dowd started a campaign against Elon Musk related to Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) beta technology, Tesla fans and owners have been putting together videos to try to show the public how the technology actually performs in the real world. The video above comes to us from AI DRIVR, who's been beta-testing FSD and making videos about it for some time now.
Tesla's FSD beta system doesn't truly drive the car by itself. Rather, it can pilot the car in certain situations, but the driver must remain aware, alert, and ready to take over at a moment's notice. This is because there are just so many edge cases, and the technology isn't necessarily consistent. For this reason, while videos like the above are compelling, we can't assume that the system will react in the same way in every similar situation, and the video shows proof of this.
With that said, you'll clearly see that Tesla's technology is certainly capable of "seeing" obstacles and avoiding them. We've seen this many times before, and we also know that there are many other cars on the market that can do the same. You'll also see that the car with the technology engaged will sometimes fail to see obstacles and completely run them over. It seems to have at least something to do with the size, shape, location, and movement (or lack of movement) of the object. The height of the obstacle also appears to make a significant impact.
While it can be impressive to see such technology work as advertised in some cases, it's scary to know that it doesn't work in others. Perhaps even more concerning is the fact that it's hard to tell exactly why it works so well when it works so well, and why it fails so badly when it does fail. Thankfully, it seems to detect humans and more substantial obstacles quite well, but that doesn't mean we can count on it to do so consistently.
AI DRIVR shared the following topics and timestamps to help people navigate the video above. However, the video is less than 10 minutes long, and you won't get the full story if you don't watch it all. We did, however, find the timestamps helpful when we wanted to go back and watch certain sections over again.
- 00:00 - Intro
- 01:11 - Occupancy Network Discussion
- 01:57 - Test #1: Piece of Cardboard
- 03:17 - Test #2: Starlink Box
- 04:51 - Test #2.5: Mic Arm Box
- 05:17 - Test #3: Wheel
- 06:23 - Test #4: Rolling Wheel
- 07:10 - Test #5: "UFO"
- 08:33 - Final Thoughts
Based on the video, as well as everything you've seen and heard to date, what's your overall take on Tesla's FSD beta technology? Are you impressed? Blown away? Concerned? Outright scared? Let us know what you think in the comment section below. Moreover, if you're an FSD beta tester or you've actually experienced the system firsthand, be sure to let us know.
