'Deepfake' technology used to advance autonomous vehicles

UK-based autonomous vehicle software specialist Oxbotica has developed and deployed a "deepfake" technology that is capable of generating thousands of photo-realistic images in minutes. It said this helps to expose its autonomous vehicles to "near infinite variations" of the same situation without real-world testing of a location. Deepfaking has been used to create viral internet videos and employs deep learning artificial intelligence (AI) to generate fake photo-realistic images. The AV software firm believes that the technology will make the vehicles of tomorrow smarter and safer, and help to accelerate the shift to autonomy. The algorithms used in the technology allow Oxbotica to reproduce the same scene in poor weather or adverse conditions, and subject its vehicles to rare occurrences.