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You could expect them to not call it autopilot, and instead call it lane keeping, like it really is. The name does a really good job at setting a terrible expec

You could expect them to not call it autopilot, and instead call it lane keeping, like it really is. The name does a really good job at setting a terrible expectation, almost to the point of undoing any attention grabbing mechanism to keep users engaged.

Animats 10y ago
The NHTSA is hinting in that direction, indicating that manufacturers must clearly distinguish between driver assistance systems (levels 1 and 2) and real self driving (levels 3 - 5). There will probably be some standard on this. There has to be; consider what happens when car rental fleets start having some of these features. There was an accident with a Volvo where someone was showing off the pedestrian safety system, and hit a pedestrian. It turned out they hadn't purchased the pedestrian safety system.[1] Something is needed to prevent problems like that. Then there's mode switching trouble. Classic problem with aircraft control systems. Tesla disengages the "autopilot" if the driver touches the brake. The trouble is that this also disables automatic braking, as the driver is assumed to now be in control. So tapping the brake without applying it fully in a hazardous situation causes a crash. All these driver behavior problems with shared control authority are hard. Maybe harder than going for level 3 and letting the automation do it. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_47utWAoupo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_47utWAoupo
- caf 10y ago
  It reminds me a little of the way in which airbags are always described as "SRS" (for "Supplementary Restraint System"), to try and make it clear that they're supposed to be used with seatbelts, not instead of them.
mannykannot 10y ago
The name is not the problem. Regardless of what you call it, once people find out empirically that their attention is not needed most of the time, even the most well-intentioned minds will wander.
richardw 10y ago
I think the name isn't too blame, it's the misinterpretation of it (and possibly tesla overselling it). "Autopilots do not replace a human operator, but assist them in controlling the vehicle, allowing them to focus on broader aspects of operation, such as monitoring the trajectory, weather and systems." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autopilot https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autopilot I've used an autopilot on a yacht and didn't expect it to dock or avoid ships. A plane autopilot doesn't freak out when the pilot takes their hands off the controls. So there seems to be room to allow the name but tighten how it's used.
seanmcdirmid 10y ago
> You could expect them to not call it autopilot, and instead call it lane keeping, like it really is. That is all that most auto pilots in planes do, however. I don't get where "autopilot" somehow came to mean full autonomy in cars but not in planes (and other vehicles like boats) where the term was used previously. Ridiculous.
- imh 10y ago
  Autopilots in planes can take you across the world. The car analogy would be only having to pull into and out of your driveway. And while they don't use it so frequently, aren't most of the planes most people fly in (big commercial aviation) certified to autoland themselves? The connotation of autopilot is absolutely that it can fly itself. Same with tesla's autopilot.
  - seanmcdirmid 10y ago
    An autopilot in a Cessna can most definitely not take you around the world. Also, autopilots even in a commercial jet keep the plane steady along a route, they don't deal with collisions at all...you could call it "lane keeping" if you want to sue the airline industry for misleading us over a term they created. Autolanding is not autopilot. In fact, autolanding is not even certified if multiple autopilots are not available to provide redundancy.
    - imh 10y ago
      Most people who have flown don't even know what a Cessna is, much less its capabilities. It's totally irrelevant. Same with dealing with collisions, which aren't analogous challenges between flying and driving. To a non-engineer, the point is that autopilot gets you from point A to point B, not the details of how it has to achieve that.
    - wott 10y ago
      > Also, autopilots even in a commercial jet keep the plane steady along a route, they don't deal with collisions at all... Yes, they do. Then the problem is when the 2 autopilots of the 2 planes take the same evasive manœuvre...

Animats 10y ago

The NHTSA is hinting in that direction, indicating that manufacturers must clearly distinguish between driver assistance systems (levels 1 and 2) and real self driving (levels 3 - 5). There will probably be some standard on this. There has to be; consider what happens when car rental fleets start having some of these features. There was an accident with a Volvo where someone was showing off the pedestrian safety system, and hit a pedestrian. It turned out they hadn't purchased the pedestrian safety system.[1] Something is needed to prevent problems like that. Then there's mode switching trouble. Classic problem with aircraft control systems. Tesla disengages the "autopilot" if the driver touches the brake. The trouble is that this also disables automatic braking, as the driver is assumed to now be in control. So tapping the brake without applying it fully in a hazardous situation causes a crash. All these driver behavior problems with shared control authority are hard. Maybe harder than going for level 3 and letting the automation do it. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_47utWAoupo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_47utWAoupo

caf 10y ago
It reminds me a little of the way in which airbags are always described as "SRS" (for "Supplementary Restraint System"), to try and make it clear that they're supposed to be used with seatbelts, not instead of them.

mannykannot 10y ago

The name is not the problem. Regardless of what you call it, once people find out empirically that their attention is not needed most of the time, even the most well-intentioned minds will wander.

richardw 10y ago

I think the name isn't too blame, it's the misinterpretation of it (and possibly tesla overselling it). "Autopilots do not replace a human operator, but assist them in controlling the vehicle, allowing them to focus on broader aspects of operation, such as monitoring the trajectory, weather and systems." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autopilot https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autopilot I've used an autopilot on a yacht and didn't expect it to dock or avoid ships. A plane autopilot doesn't freak out when the pilot takes their hands off the controls. So there seems to be room to allow the name but tighten how it's used.

seanmcdirmid 10y ago

> You could expect them to not call it autopilot, and instead call it lane keeping, like it really is. That is all that most auto pilots in planes do, however. I don't get where "autopilot" somehow came to mean full autonomy in cars but not in planes (and other vehicles like boats) where the term was used previously. Ridiculous.

imh 10y ago
Autopilots in planes can take you across the world. The car analogy would be only having to pull into and out of your driveway. And while they don't use it so frequently, aren't most of the planes most people fly in (big commercial aviation) certified to autoland themselves? The connotation of autopilot is absolutely that it can fly itself. Same with tesla's autopilot.
- seanmcdirmid 10y ago
  An autopilot in a Cessna can most definitely not take you around the world. Also, autopilots even in a commercial jet keep the plane steady along a route, they don't deal with collisions at all...you could call it "lane keeping" if you want to sue the airline industry for misleading us over a term they created. Autolanding is not autopilot. In fact, autolanding is not even certified if multiple autopilots are not available to provide redundancy.
  - imh 10y ago
    Most people who have flown don't even know what a Cessna is, much less its capabilities. It's totally irrelevant. Same with dealing with collisions, which aren't analogous challenges between flying and driving. To a non-engineer, the point is that autopilot gets you from point A to point B, not the details of how it has to achieve that.
  - wott 10y ago
    > Also, autopilots even in a commercial jet keep the plane steady along a route, they don't deal with collisions at all... Yes, they do. Then the problem is when the 2 autopilots of the 2 planes take the same evasive manœuvre...