This weekend was the last of three races in a row for F1, the Spanish Gran Prix. Now Formula one is not my favorite auto sport, but I got into it as my daughter loves it and being a geek on autos and tech was something we could share. Formula E (electric) is more my thing.  

The race was typical for Formula 1 this year, the start is important. Getting out in into the lead and into clear air is an advantage. The next advantage was Tire management, and the eventually winner did both to perfection. But this is not the story if the race, or why we watch sports. What happened a little further back in the pack was the interesting part of the race. 

Four-time champion Max Verstappen and one of the best drivers showed human emotions. He in a rage of anger bumped another car. There was a series of incidents that led to him getting this angry and he was not angry at the car he tapped but blowing up as part of a chain of events. The one thing I was thinking was the AI autonomous drivers would never do this.  

If there is a race of autonomous vehicles, they will try to drive the perfect race. The systems will algorithmically figure out optimal decisions. Choosing when to pass, where to pass and the exact move would be impressive. Each driver would have this, and well it would be boring. We do not watch sports for perfection, in fact the opposite. There was a running joke that people watch NASCAR races for the crashes. But the crashes are simply just mistakes. Humans make mistakes and thus make watching sports that more interesting.  

I love hockey and watching it when a goal is scored there is immediate reaction about the goalie making a mistake. In most cases there are a few mistakes as there are five other players on the ice. How did the puck get to the shooter? How did the shooter get open? How did the puck get into the zone? Yes, there are a ton of players with talent and sometimes there is a great play, but in most goals, there are mistakes made. This makes the sport interesting to watch.  

There recently was a boxing robot match, and a marathon for autonomous robots, but did not go well. It was interesting to see the failures and mistakes. It was laughable to watch. If the robots get it perfect, I am not sure how interesting it would be to watch. I have written about failure before and so have a lot of others. There is the notion about celebrating failure, allowing people to fail, and learning from mistakes. As an outside observer it is these small mistakes and failures that make a great race. 

Thinking about watching mistakes there was a whole TV show based on it, called Americas Funniest Videos. This was really us watching things go horribly wrong and celebrating it. While there is a lot of talk about AI taking over but there is something where I think humans will continue to be needed. Please not I am not condoning what Max did, or any violent behavior, but it was his team’s strategy and other mistakes that made the race enjoyable to watch.  

This opinion is mine, and mine only, my current or former employers have nothing to do with it. I do not write for any financial gain; I do not take advertising and any product company listed was not done for payment. But if you do like what I write you can donate to the charity I support (with my wife who passed away in 2017) Morgan Stanley’s Children’s Hospital or donate to your favorite charity. The fundraising site had to be restarted, and NYP Hospital made changes to their donation sites. I pay to host my site out of my own pocket; my intention is to keep it free.  You are welcome to comment, but note it is moderated, and all spam will be removed. 

This Blog is a labor of love and was originally going to be a book. With the advent of being able to publish yourself on the web I chose this path. I will write many of these and not worry too much about grammar or spelling (I will try to come back later and fix it) but focus on content. I apologize in advance for my ADD as often topics may flip. I hope one day to turn this into a book and or a podcast, but for now it will remain a blog.  AI is not used in this writing other than using the web to find information. Images without notes are created using an AI tool that allows me to reuse them