Elon also shared that after FSD Beta v9.2 will come 9.3, probably 9.4, and then maybe 10. He added that there are significant architecture changes in 10. (FSD Beta version “X” sounds cooler than version 10, in my random opinion.)
Unpacking the Details
I am no AI expert, but I’ll share what stood out to me. That was the multi-model predictions for where other vehicles are expected to drive. I don’t drive, but since I grew up being a pedestrian, I’ve developed instincts. I can actually sense when a car is behind me even if I have headphones on. It’s subtle changes in the air, the nuanced feeling of someone behind me — and that sense has saved my ass a time or two. I also continuously glance around at my surroundings — again, these are habits that I’ve developed over the course of a lifetime of being car-less.
Keeping that perspective in mind, I often rely on my instincts as to when a car around me will make its move. It’s just second nature — autonomous. I can also “feel” when the lights are about to change. And you would think this is a psychic gift, but the truth is that the subconscious is continuously recording and it remembers. I don’t magically know when the lights will change, but my subconscious uses data that it previously collected from the same trips I would walk and applies that knowledge to the current trip I’m on.
I suspect this is along the lines of what Elon meant when talking about multi-model predictions for where other vehicles are expected to drive. When I am walking to the store or somewhere, my senses are always on high alert. There was that one time a guy ran a red light when I was in the crosswalk. I was not only aware of this, but my instincts urged me to slow down my pace and the car actually came to a stop in the middle of the crosswalk where I would have been standing if I didn’t slow my pace. Tesla’s FSD system needs to not only be able to see people, bikers, and cars well, but also learn better and better how to predict what they will do and how to respond to that while remaining alert about other possibilities.
The fact that Tesla is making a vehicle that is self-aware and has the same kind of senses (or will have when it’s perfected) as I do when walking is completely mind-blowing. As for the rest of the details, I agree with Dave Lee here — we need James Douma or someone like him to translate the rest. And this will be a video that I will be looking forward to.