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Is "auto" in autopilot short for automatic or automobile? It's just occurred to me it could be either if you want to be strict or pedantic. I automatically assu
by DavidWanjiru 10y ago
Is "auto" in autopilot short for automatic or automobile? It's just occurred to me it could be either if you want to be strict or pedantic. I automatically assume it's short for automatic pilot, which most people would assume means "it drives - pilots - itself," and that may be reason people assume the technology is more like a chauffeur. But if by autopilot Tesla mean automobile pilot (I admittedly don't think that's the case), then the meaning would probably change.
- mikeash 10y agoIt does drive itself, with human supervision. Just like the automatic transmission shifts gears by itself but still needs human input.
- UnoriginalGuy 10y agoThat's a strange example. An automatic transmission needs no human input at all. You put it in D, and leave it in D, until you stop driving most of the time. Did you mean manual transmissions?
- mikeash 10y agoIt's pretty common that you need to shift it to R. Nobody leaves it in D while backing out of a parking spot and then complains that the automatic transmission didn't do its job when they collide with the wall in front of them.
- icebraining 10y agoSure, when you want to indicate a different intention, you need to interact with it, but you don't need to keep watching over it in case it suddenly switches to R.