Episode
Sebastian Thrun: Flying Cars, Autonomous Vehicles, and Education
Description
Sebastian Thrun is one of the greatest roboticists, computer scientists, and educators of our time. He led development of the autonomous vehicles at Stanford that won the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge and placed second in the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge. He then led the Google self-driving car program which launched the self-driving revolution. He taught the popular Stanford course on Artificial Intelligence in 2011 which was one of the first MOOCs. That experience led him to co-found Udacity, an online education platform. He is also the CEO of Kitty Hawk, a company working on building flying cars or more technically eVTOLS which stands for electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft. This conversation is part of the Artificial Intelligence podcast. If you would like to get more information about this podcast go to https://lexfridman.com/ai or connect with @lexfridman on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Medium, or YouTube where you can watch the video versions of these conversations. If you enjoy the podcast, please rate it 5 stars on Apple Podcasts or support it on Patreon. This episode is presented by Cash App. Download it (App Store, Google Play), use code "LexPodcast". Here's the outline of the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time. 00:00 - Introduction 03:24 - The Matrix 04:39 - Predicting the future 30+ years ago 06:14 - Machine learning and expert systems 09:18 - How to pick what ideas to work on 11:27 - DARPA Grand Challenges 17:33 - What does it take to be a good leader? 23:44 - Autonomous vehicles 38:42 - Waymo and Tesla Autopilot 42:11 - Self-Driving Car Nanodegree 47:29 - Machine learning 51:10 - AI in medical applications 54:06 - AI-related job loss and education 57:51 - Teaching soft skills 1:00:13 - Kitty Hawk and flying cars 1:08:22 - Love and AI 1:13:12 - Life
Chapters
Theoretical physicists find the universe's information processing system interesting, but it may not necessarily have any impact on how humans should act.
00:00 - 04:55 (04:55)
Summary
Theoretical physicists find the universe's information processing system interesting, but it may not necessarily have any impact on how humans should act. The podcast contains an advertisement for Cash App, offering $10 and a $10 donation to FIRST with code LexPodcast.
EpisodeSebastian Thrun: Flying Cars, Autonomous Vehicles, and Education
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
Today's AI technology can observe experts in various fields, learn the rules and regularities of their profession, and become as good as the best experts, even picking up on subtle details that cannot be written down.
04:56 - 10:50 (05:53)
Summary
Today's AI technology can observe experts in various fields, learn the rules and regularities of their profession, and become as good as the best experts, even picking up on subtle details that cannot be written down.
EpisodeSebastian Thrun: Flying Cars, Autonomous Vehicles, and Education
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The introduction of self-driving and flying cars could greatly impact society.
10:50 - 18:46 (07:55)
Summary
The introduction of self-driving and flying cars could greatly impact society. Through learning from experience, robots are able to recover from mistakes and improve their abilities.
EpisodeSebastian Thrun: Flying Cars, Autonomous Vehicles, and Education
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
DARPA and the US government have adopted a new funding model to fund outcomes instead of effort, encouraging unique and ingenious solutions to problems.
18:46 - 27:43 (08:56)
Summary
DARPA and the US government have adopted a new funding model to fund outcomes instead of effort, encouraging unique and ingenious solutions to problems. This allows those who may not have the resources to be able to compete and innovate on a level playing field.
EpisodeSebastian Thrun: Flying Cars, Autonomous Vehicles, and Education
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
Building a self-driving car that can manage 90% of problems encountered in everyday driving is a goal that can be achieved with a combination of real product impact, thought, and ideas that is working well in Silicon Valley.
27:43 - 34:27 (06:43)
Summary
Building a self-driving car that can manage 90% of problems encountered in everyday driving is a goal that can be achieved with a combination of real product impact, thought, and ideas that is working well in Silicon Valley. It can save lives, make driving accessible for those who lose their driving privileges, and is considered as the ultimate end objective in AI planning systems.
EpisodeSebastian Thrun: Flying Cars, Autonomous Vehicles, and Education
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The two approaches currently being taken to achieve autonomous cars are building a level four autonomous vehicle from scratch and using machine learning to incrementally improve a level two vehicle.
34:27 - 44:27 (09:59)
Summary
The two approaches currently being taken to achieve autonomous cars are building a level four autonomous vehicle from scratch and using machine learning to incrementally improve a level two vehicle. Another solution may be to give everyone the skills to build a self-driving car, leading to numerous self-driving car startups.
EpisodeSebastian Thrun: Flying Cars, Autonomous Vehicles, and Education
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
This episode discusses the capabilities of machines in observing people, extracting rules from experts, and using machine learning in various fields such as law, sales, driving, and healthcare.
44:27 - 54:46 (10:18)
Summary
This episode discusses the capabilities of machines in observing people, extracting rules from experts, and using machine learning in various fields such as law, sales, driving, and healthcare. It also focuses on the importance of using computer vision and machine learning in the development of autonomous vehicles and expertise in different professions.
EpisodeSebastian Thrun: Flying Cars, Autonomous Vehicles, and Education
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
While hard skills like programming and design are important in the tech sector, soft skills like communication and collaboration are just as crucial, and should be emphasized in education.
54:46 - 1:00:02 (05:16)
Summary
While hard skills like programming and design are important in the tech sector, soft skills like communication and collaboration are just as crucial, and should be emphasized in education. Education should not be exclusive, but open and accessible to all regardless of social status, geographic location, or race.
EpisodeSebastian Thrun: Flying Cars, Autonomous Vehicles, and Education
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
A discussion about the potential of flying cars and delivery drones as a solution for ground transportation with the potential to significantly decrease commute times.
1:00:02 - 1:09:00 (08:57)
Summary
A discussion about the potential of flying cars and delivery drones as a solution for ground transportation with the potential to significantly decrease commute times. However, challenges of scale and safety remain as potential hurdles.
EpisodeSebastian Thrun: Flying Cars, Autonomous Vehicles, and Education
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The podcast explores the role that love and trust play in human interaction, and questions whether or not these emotions can be replicated in technology in order for us to trust our tech the same way we trust each other.
1:09:00 - 1:13:36 (04:35)
Summary
The podcast explores the role that love and trust play in human interaction, and questions whether or not these emotions can be replicated in technology in order for us to trust our tech the same way we trust each other.
EpisodeSebastian Thrun: Flying Cars, Autonomous Vehicles, and Education
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
This podcast discusses the disruptive innovations that have improved our lives over the last 150 years, starting with the printing press and ending with the invention of nitrogen fertilization.
1:13:36 - 1:18:38 (05:01)
Summary
This podcast discusses the disruptive innovations that have improved our lives over the last 150 years, starting with the printing press and ending with the invention of nitrogen fertilization.