Tractor pulling is a midwestern sport where people compete to build the tractor with the greatest pulling power, and then use it to pull against an ever-increasing drag. Whoever gets furthest wins. There are no restrictions on the types of engine or tractor, aside from overall weight. So it’s basically a contest in who can buy the biggest jet engine? No, because the rules require that it be piloted by hand. No gyroscopes, electronics, or mechanical steering. That keeps the sport human and engaging.
The automatic guidance required for superhuman tractor pull driving is pretty simple (I looked into it in about 1991 when I was going to tractor pulls). You could build it out of 1950′s missile guidance technology. By 1991, it would have been well within my one-person engineering capabilities. And by 2026, It’s trivial. But to even get close to it is illegal. So here’s a sport that decided to rule out AI decades ago, because it was decades ago when AI began to impinge on its sorrow, glory and beauty.
Tractor pulling is a midwestern sport where people compete to build the tractor with the greatest pulling power, and then use it to pull against an ever-increasing drag. Whoever gets furthest wins. There are no restrictions on the types of engine or tractor, aside from overall weight. So it’s basically a contest in who can buy the biggest jet engine? No, because the rules require that it be piloted by hand. No gyroscopes, electronics, or mechanical steering. That keeps the sport human and engaging.
The automatic guidance required for superhuman tractor pull driving is pretty simple (I looked into it in about 1991 when I was going to tractor pulls). You could build it out of 1950′s missile guidance technology. By 1991, it would have been well within my one-person engineering capabilities. And by 2026, It’s trivial. But to even get close to it is illegal. So here’s a sport that decided to rule out AI decades ago, because it was decades ago when AI began to impinge on its sorrow, glory and beauty.