Cambridge start-up Five AI says artificial intelligence can control driverless cars

Former Acorn Computers and Element 14 chief Stan Boland, pictured above, is heading up Five AI, a start-up that is using artificial intelligence and machine learning to create a control system for autonomous vehicles that would ensure they could travel safely in crowded urban environments. "We will offer a complete software solution for driverless cars, from sensor input at one end to object perception and control of the vehicle at the other," he said. "We're using the most recent innovations in computer vision and artificial intelligence which means we're doing things differently from companies like Google and others already making systems for driverless cars." Indeed, most autonomous vehicles currently in development use complex 3D maps to keep track of their surroundings, so having an AI which could fulfill this role would save firms the hefty job of mapping the world's 37.2 million kilometers of road. "There's quite a big gap between what vehicle OEMs can do and the research that's going on in universities," said Boland.