Tesla Full Self-Driving
Full scoring breakdown and rationale
Folly
80
The failure to train an AI on the simple, universal concept that a multi-thousand-tonne freight train has the right-of-way is a legendary display of incompetence.
Arrogance
90
Deploying a 'Full Self-Driving' system that is fundamentally blind to one of the oldest and most dangerous forms of industrial transport demonstrates a cosmic-level belief that software can defy physics.
Impact
70
Widespread media investigations and regulatory scrutiny followed multiple documented failures, making this an international spectacle and a textbook case of AI deployment failure.
Lethality
85
The system repeatedly fails to recognize and stop for trains, creating a direct and high-probability pathway to mass-casualty events. This is an extinction-level game of chicken.
Base Score
82.5
Bonuses
+10
- The FSD system actively ignores clear, universally understood safety signals like flashing lights and crossing arms, choosing its own catastrophic path.
Penalties
Final Score
92.5
Tesla's Full Self-Driving system achieved a spectacular failure of machine learning by remaining oblivious to the concept of trains, a technology that has been decisively winning arguments with cars since 1825. The company deployed an AI sophisticated enough to handle complex urban streets yet utterly baffled by the physics of a freight train. This breathtaking oversight, combined with the system's rogue insistence on ignoring railway safety warnings, makes it a monumental example of technological hubris. It's a powerful lesson that even the most advanced AI can be defeated by a problem solved by basic human self-preservation instincts over a century ago.
Failure Fingerprint
Final Score: 92.5