Sebastian Thrun: Flying Cars, Autonomous Vehicles, and Education | Lex Fridman Podcast #59

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

December 21, 2019

Duration

1h 18m

Channel

Lex Fridman Podcast

Watch on YouTube

▶ Open ↗

🎤 SPEAKERS

• Lex Fridman

  host

• Sebastian Thrun

  guest

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Lex Fridman Podcast, featuring Lex Fridman and Sebastian Thrun, Sebastian Thrun: Flying Cars, Autonomous Vehicles, and Education | Lex Fridman Podcast #59 explores sebastian Thrun on AI, self‑driving cars, flying taxis, and education Sebastian Thrun discusses the evolution of artificial intelligence from rule-based systems to modern machine learning, emphasizing how data-driven methods now match or surpass human experts in domains like driving and medical diagnosis. He reflects on leading the DARPA Grand Challenge and Google’s self-driving car program, explaining both the technical hurdles and the importance of rigorous testing and leadership grounded in empathy. Thrun outlines his vision for electric VTOL ‘flying cars’ as a quiet, safe, autonomous layer of urban transportation that could eliminate traffic and radically speed up commutes. Finally, he talks about Udacity and his broader mission to make cutting-edge, job-relevant education and soft skills globally accessible as AI reshapes work.

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