Tesla’s safety feature confuses Thai Songthaew passengers with pedestrians, causing hilarity amongst netizens
A Japanese YouTuber driving a Tesla in Thailand found himself perplexed when the car repeatedly warned him of pedestrians crossing in front. However, upon looking up, he saw nothing.
The amusing reality emerged later when he realised the car was not identifying people cutting in front but mistakenly interpreting people hanging on the back of Thai Songthaew, or two-row pick-up trucks, as pedestrians.
The Japanese YouTuber, known for creating content about Thailand, shared this amusing incident in a video posted on his Twitter account, X: @JGSDF_YTS_X7. He was driving a Tesla, an electric vehicle renowned for its advanced safety features, including a system that alerts the driver of surrounding hazards.
As he was driving his Tesla in Thailand, an alert suddenly flashed on his car screen, warning him of people constantly crossing in front of the car. However, when he looked around, he saw no one crossing the road, yet the screen still showed several people supposedly cutting in front of his vehicle. He almost thought it was supernatural until he discovered the hilarious truth, reported KhaoSod.
The Tesla was not malfunctioning nor were there any issues with people crossing the road. Instead, Tesla’s system was unfamiliar or perhaps had not been fed data about Songthaew, a common mode of transportation in Thailand, where people often hang at the back. This led the car to misinterpret the people hanging at the back of these two-row vehicles as pedestrians crossing the road.
The Japanese YouTuber found the situation so amusing that he ended up laughing out loud and sharing the moment on social media.
Netizens also joined in the laughter.
“Even Tesla’s top-notch technology is defeated by Thai Songthaew 5555.”
“It’s indeed challenging to make AI learn this.”
“It’s too chaotic, haha.”
“AI would be confused encountering this.”
“Thailand must be hard to distinguish people on the road from people on vehicles.”
“Driving at night, I can’t handle seeing this on the screen.”
“The screen image looks like people are surrounding the car.”
Meanwhile, the Japanese YouTuber’s tweet has gone viral, providing a good laugh for netizens all over the world.
It’s safe to say that this unusual encounter underscores the unique challenges that AI technology may face when introduced to different countries with unique cultural practices, such as Thailand’s Songthaew.
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