Phantom traffic jam experiment offers a grim model for AI progress
robleclerc · x · 2026-08-27
Rob Leclerc cites a 2008 Japanese experiment where 22 cars driving in a circle at a steady 30 km/h spontaneously formed a "phantom traffic jam" from tiny speed variations rippling through the chain. He argues AI progress will behave the same way, and worse—overall advancement will lag even the slowest link in the chain.
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