I'm curious, how do autonomous vehicles process the data they receive from sensors? Especially, how does artificial intelligence come into play here? When encountering a cyclist on the road, how fast is the decision-making process? Although I don't think anyone would trust them enough to ride in one just yet, how is the logic designed?
How does autonomous driving actually work?
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Autonomous driving can actually be compared to the camera apps on smartphones. For example, when you turn on night mode on your phone, sensors detect the ambient light and the software optimizes the night mode accordingly; similarly, autonomous vehicles scan everything around them (pedestrians, vehicles, traffic lights, etc.) using multiple sensors. With LiDAR, radar, cameras, and so on, the incoming data is processed like a "soup" of sensor data. This is where artificial intelligence comes into play, interpreting this data instantly and making decisions.
I think the best comparison is to the behavior of NPCs (non-player characters) in a game. For instance, in GTA, if you see a cyclist in traffic, you adjust your steering based on their tires, right? An autonomous vehicle predicts the cyclist's speed and path in the same way and makes instant braking or steering decisions (within milliseconds). So, you could compare this process to your reflexes, except here, instead of reflexes, there's an algorithm.