I don't know what he's talking about. Humans clearly outperform ants in navigation. Especially if you allow arbitrary markings on the terrain.
Sounds like "ineffable nature" mumbo-jumbo.
Arbitrary markings on the terrain? Why not GPS, satellite photo etc? All of those are human inventions and we can navigate much better and in a broader set of environments than ants thanks to them.
Because I was making a stronger argument (strict vs relaxed requirements on humans) to preempt another nature mumbo-jumbo argument that GPS is not the same/cheating.