> Weeds are getting harder to kill as herbicide-resistant varieties survive
Surely it won't take long for camera-resistant weeds to evolve? They will learn to avoid detection via camoflage and mimicry. Still, I guess it's a better problem to have than a chemical arms race.
That's already happened - Rye is an example of Vavilovian mimicry[1][2], a crop that evolved to be hard for humans to distinguish from weeds. Thankfully, the selection pressure is also to be tasty and useful, as burning a field to prevent it's weeds from spreading remains a viable solution.
I bet we can update the laser targeting firmware faster than natural selection can update weeds. I would also guess we can take some inspiration from hummingbirds and use the plant's IR signature as part of the targeting selection criteria, too
Surely it won't take long for camera-resistant weeds to evolve? They will learn to avoid detection via camoflage and mimicry. Still, I guess it's a better problem to have than a chemical arms race.