Artificial intelligence has a new feather in its cap?

After conquering the realms of chess, Go, StarCraft, and even virtual racing, AI has now taken its supremacy to the real-world skies.

AI just beat seasoned drone racing champions.

“Three expert drone racers who were beaten by an algorithm that learned to fly a drone around a 3D race course at breakneck speeds without crashing.”

Welcome to the future of AI.

For those who don’t even know, drone racing is a thing of beauty.

Its a high-octane sport where pilots navigate tiny drones at dizzying speeds through challenging 3D courses.

It takes incredible focus, skill and concentration.

These races are not for the faint-hearted; drones reach speeds of up to 50mph (80km/h) and endure forces that would make most of us black out.

It’s a sport where split-second decisions and lightning-fast reflexes are the difference between victory and a spectacular crash.

Enter Swift AI, a creation of researchers at the University of Zurich.

Swift is not your ordinary drone; it’s a product of deep reinforcement learning, an AI technique that learns through trial and error.

Swift emerged victorious in 15 out of 25 races, leaving the human pilots scratching their heads.

What’s the secret behind Swift’s success?

It all comes down to data and algorithms.

Before the contest, human pilots had a week to practice on the course, while Swift honed its skills in a simulated environment, learning the virtual replica of the track.

During a race, Swift’s onboard camera sent video to a neural network, which detected racing gates.

This information, combined with data from an inertial sensor, allowed Swift to estimate its position, orientation, and speed.

Another neural network then determined the optimal commands to navigate the course.

The analysis of the races revealed Swift’s edge.

It consistently outperformed humans at the race’s start, executing tighter turns and setting a blazing pace.

The quickest lap by Swift clocked in at 17.47 seconds, half a second faster than the fastest human pilot.

But Swift wasn’t infallible; it lost 40% of its races to humans and suffered several crashes, particularly in challenging lighting conditions.

The implications of this achievement extend beyond the racetrack.

Swift’s ability to cope with real-world challenges such as turbulence, camera blur, and lighting changes holds promise for various applications.

Imagine drones searching for people in burning buildings or conducting inspections of massive structures like ships out in the open ocean.

However, the mention of AI-powered drones inevitably raises concerns about military applications.

Now imagine the impact of Swift-like technology in modern warfare.

It would be unthinkably powerful especially against big, stationary targets.

This is a reminder that AI isn’t just a futuristic concept; it’s here, it’s real, and it’s rewriting the rules in fields we once considered exclusively human.

The sky’s the limit, quite literally.

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In the future, will AI beat humans in everything?

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#modern #war #startupX #startups #AI #DroneRacing #SwiftAI #ArtificialIntelligence #Technology #Innovation #Future #MachineLearning #Robotics

Artificial intelligence has a new feather in its cap?

After conquering the realms of chess, Go, StarCraft, and even virtual racing, AI has now taken its supremacy to the real-world skies.

AI just beat seasoned drone racing champions.

“Three expert drone racers who were beaten by an algorithm that learned to fly a drone around a 3D race course at breakneck speeds without crashing.”

Welcome to the future of AI.

For those who don’t even know, drone racing is a thing of beauty.

Its a high-octane sport where pilots navigate tiny drones at dizzying speeds through challenging 3D courses.

It takes incredible focus, skill and concentration.

These races are not for the faint-hearted; drones reach speeds of up to 50mph (80km/h) and endure forces that would make most of us black out.

It’s a sport where split-second decisions and lightning-fast reflexes are the difference between victory and a spectacular crash.

Enter Swift AI, a creation of researchers at the University of Zurich.

Swift is not your ordinary drone; it’s a product of deep reinforcement learning, an AI technique that learns through trial and error.

Swift emerged victorious in 15 out of 25 races, leaving the human pilots scratching their heads.

What’s the secret behind Swift’s success?

It all comes down to data and algorithms.

Before the contest, human pilots had a week to practice on the course, while Swift honed its skills in a simulated environment, learning the virtual replica of the track.

During a race, Swift’s onboard camera sent video to a neural network, which detected racing gates.

This information, combined with data from an inertial sensor, allowed Swift to estimate its position, orientation, and speed.

Another neural network then determined the optimal commands to navigate the course.

The analysis of the races revealed Swift’s edge.

It consistently outperformed humans at the race’s start, executing tighter turns and setting a blazing pace.

The quickest lap by Swift clocked in at 17.47 seconds, half a second faster than the fastest human pilot.

But Swift wasn’t infallible; it lost 40% of its races to humans and suffered several crashes, particularly in challenging lighting conditions.

The implications of this achievement extend beyond the racetrack.

Swift’s ability to cope with real-world challenges such as turbulence, camera blur, and lighting changes holds promise for various applications.

Imagine drones searching for people in burning buildings or conducting inspections of massive structures like ships out in the open ocean.

However, the mention of AI-powered drones inevitably raises concerns about military applications.

Now imagine the impact of Swift-like technology in modern warfare.

It would be unthinkably powerful especially against big, stationary targets.

This is a reminder that AI isn’t just a futuristic concept; it’s here, it’s real, and it’s rewriting the rules in fields we once considered exclusively human.

The sky’s the limit, quite literally.

-

In the future, will AI beat humans in everything?

-

#modern #war #startupX #startups #AI #DroneRacing #SwiftAI #ArtificialIntelligence #Technology #Innovation #Future #MachineLearning #Robotics