Week 2 - MBA 6601 - AI and Self-driving Cars

I have heard the terms "artificial intelligence" and "AI" being used quite often recently. I was talking about artificial intelligence with a friend as we shared our thoughts about its future. A collegue at work showed me how she was using ChatGPT and other AI tools for marketing initiatives. Of course, I have learned about it in MBA 6601 and in undergraduate classes I have taken in previous semesters.

AI seems to be a "hot topic" today. It relates to so much in our world whether that be healthcare management, social media, or robots to name a few examples. The term refers to the intelligence of a machine that performs tasks in such a way that we tend to associate it with the human mind. It is a very interesting concept and field that is continuing to evolve rather quickly.

Chapter 2 of Surfing the Tsunami discusses AI today and how it is being applied. One aspect of this chapter I found especially interesting was the discussion on self-driving cars. The image below was derived from the chapter and is what initially struck my interest in the topic.

Considering it is driving itself, I knew that self-driving cars would need to process a lot of information. Without data from its environment, it would not be able to function correctly. However, looking at the above image, I noticed that the car is sensing information from up top. I can understand the front and rear, but I was curious why it would need information from the top, especially from directly above the car. How does what goes on in the environment above, such as in the sky, have anything to do with driving from Point A to Point B? How would this information be used?

I decided to do a little bit of research on this. Firstly, I found the above image which explains how the Google/Waymo car specifically uses this sensor. As stated, it uses lasers, radars, and cameras to detect objects in all directions. I also found an article titled "How Self-driving Cars Work: Sensor Systems" by Udacity which provides insight. The sensors on self-driving cars are used for a wide range of applications. One of these is radar, which reads the environment in many contexts including "weather forecasting, astronomy, communications, ocean navigation, military operations, and autonomous driving" (1).

The article continues to explain how the radar receiver can help derive information on "the objects’ angles, ranges, and velocities" as well as "seeing" and interpreting "environmental details (e.g. signs, traffic lights, animals)" (2). These are just a few reasons I found that help explain the usage for a sensor being above the car. It is certainly necessary to ensure self-driving cars are retriving as much information as possible in order to maintain safety and avoid mistakes.

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