
Nicki Shields poses with her rival, the AI race car DevBot at the Hong Kong ePrix earlier in December.

She took part in a unique challenge -- a time trial against an autonomous car around a street circuit.

The "Human vs. machine" challenge pitted an autonomous race car against a human driver on a Formula E street circuit around Hong Kong's harborfront.

The Devbot is a prototype electric car which has been created to develop and showcase the capabilities of autonomous vehicles.

Devbot's creators, Roborace, used the chassis from a LMP3 Ginetta -- a car design that's used by drivers in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

The rear-mounted petrol V8 engine has been replaced with a high-output, high-voltage battery.

The Devbot is fitted with state-of-the-art sensing equipment -- including LIDAR and cameras -- which enable it to navigate its way safely around a track.

Powerful AI software interacts with the sensing equipment enabling the Devbot to learn the geography of a track and the racing line.

Before the challenge in Hong Kong, Shields drove the Devbot at a test track in the UK.

Shields getting strapped in ahead of her three timed laps in Hong Kong.

Shields clocked a fastest lap of 1:26.60 seconds...

The Devbot couldn't match Shields time crossing the finish line in a time of 1:34.00 seconds.

Look out for a rematch between Shields and the DevBot in 2018.