Kangaroos can teach humans a lesson about AI

Kangaroos may have something to teach humans about AI. In 2017, Volvo began equipping its vehicles with a camera and radar-based "large animal detection" system. The device was designed to monitor the road ahead, identify large animals, warn the driver if it spots one ahead, and automatically apply the brakes, if needed.

Volvo, a Swedish company now owned by Chinese company Geely, trained the system and tested it on Sweden's roads. The device identified moose, cows and reindeer — the kind of animals a driver might encounter on a Swedish road. But when Volvo tested the device on Australian roads, its AI system failed to recognize kangaroos as large animals, partly because they move by jumping. A device trained to stop a car for a reindeer would not do so if it encountered a kangaroo.

Volvo responded by opening a large animal training center for its cars in Australia, setting an example of how companies can responsibly adapt AI systems to local conditions.