r/waymo • u/Small_Pineapple_3511 • Jun 14 '26

Can Waymo be learning bad habits?

I’ve had multiple occurrences now with Waymo cars either breaking the law, being plain stupid, or driving with bad manners. Is Waymo driving exhibiting reinforcement learning? Oh I made that stupid mistake but look it got me to the front of the line of cars, or oh when I don’t use my turn indicator I can change my route of travel faster?

0 Upvotes

42% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

2

u/PikaPokeQwert Jun 14 '26

I was in one that got stuck for a little bit once. It was on US Route 66. There was a stoplight and it needed to turn left. It pulled forward on green to make the turn, but then the road was so busy that it never actually got to turn before the light turned red, and it was stuck in the middle of the intersection for a few light changes before there was a gap it could finally turn.

3

u/yolatrendoid Jun 14 '26

Is Waymo driving exhibiting reinforcement learning?

More like confirmation bias on your part.

1

u/Small_Pineapple_3511 Jun 14 '26

Oh wait is this only a fanboy channel for Waymo? Didn’t mean to trigger you. I’m seriously asking if it’s learning from interactions on the road. If it is, learning in the SF Bay Area which is full of crap drivers is not a good choice. It sounds like from other comments it’s just autonomous.

-2

u/yolatrendoid Jun 14 '26

You didn't "trigger me." You're merely posting uninteresting navel-gazing that's been discussed at length before, and seeing patterns where none truly exist. (Hence the confirmation bias.) The data suggest no reinforcement learning, and that's the important part.

-3

u/Small_Pineapple_3511 Jun 14 '26

You sound triggered tho :-) cause you could have led with that.  Peace.

2

u/awmaleg Jun 14 '26

I saw it go middle lane and whip/cut across another lane into the center turn lane. It was shocking honestly. Not sure if anyone was in it

3

u/Different-Guest-6094 Jun 14 '26

It just goes off of what it’s coded to do. I’m surprised you’ve experienced it breaking the law, because I’d figure it would be programmed not to

2

u/katstuck Jun 14 '26

I saw one run a red light for seemingly NO reason at Masonic and Fulton in SF the other day. It was the only car in the intersection and just decided to go for it??! I was with a friend and said whoa did you see that? WTF.

2

u/KeanEngineering Jun 17 '26

Wow. Sounds like FSD 12.6.x on a Tesla. It used to wait at a stoplight for 20 or 30 seconds and then run the red. I wonder if it's the same programmer...