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>From a PR perspective, the name was a solid gold decision. I doubt it. It creates false hopes and probably hurted/hurts them when crashs happen. The Tesla aut

>From a PR perspective, the name was a solid gold decision. I doubt it. It creates false hopes and probably hurted/hurts them when crashs happen. The Tesla autopilot death in June was a really big thing, yet other crashes where assistant systems of other manufacturers are never in the press. Maybe because of the name, maybe because the drivers use them better? Also look at what happened recently in Germany: 1. Basically the head of the DMVs sending a letter to all Tesla owners to RTFM that it is not in fact an autopilot. 2. Department of Transportation pushing Tesla to stop using the term "autopilot" in marketing as it is misleading.

WalterBright 10y ago
The autopilot in an airplane cannot be used without a pilot paying attention, either, but it is still called an autopilot. (For example, autopilots do not avoid traffic on a collision course.)
- thesimon 10y ago
  On the other hand: The pilots are highly trained to fly and how to use the autopilot including the limitations.
  - bisby 10y ago
    And while the name is perhaps misleading to the xommon layperson, your comment of "it is not in fact an autopilot" is flat out wrong. Instead perhaps "it is in fact an autopilot, but you don't know what an autopilot is or how it should be used"
    - ams6110 10y ago
      You're arguing semantics. The average person will see "autopilot" and experience a few "happy" drives where the car stays in its lane and has no problems. Then they will stop paying attention and die when they are asleep when it "hands over control" at 60 mph due to a failed sensor or something.
  - MagnumOpus 10y ago
    Except when they aren't - see Air France 447 for what happens when a driver has to step in after the autopilot can't cope with the situation. Then enhance the frequency of it happening by three orders of magnitude given that Tesla drivers are generally not professional drivers, let alone trained in the quirks of an autopilot in the beta release stage...
- houssc 10y ago
  To be fair planes aren't sold to relatively untrained individuals. Furthermore many accidents have happened when trained pilots stopped paying attention on the job and autopilot failed. I'm totally expecting a "Florida Man in Fatal Tesla Crash Was Masturbating to Internet Pornography" headline.
- moogly 10y ago
  You know that; I know that; the average Joe on the street does not, and instead has a Hollywood interpretation of the term. Tesla knowingly and cynically exploits that.
- sokoloff 10y ago
  The A380 now has the capability to respond to resolution advisories (RAs) on autopilot. You're correct that most do not, but there's now one that does.
- hash-set 10y ago
  This is the worst of both worlds--having people become complacent behind the wheel while a computer drives only to have to suddenly become engaged which you know isn't going to happen. A lot of people nod off while driving as it is. Take away the "you're going to die if you don't pay attention" part and then imagine what happens!
- CamperBob2 10y ago
  Of course it can be used without a pilot paying attention. But this rarely happens. If we trained drivers the way we train pilots, it wouldn't be a problem in cars, either. Also, the comparison would be more relevant if you had as much time to correct problems that occur eight feet away from an oncoming lane of 70 MPH traffic, and as many degrees of freedom in which to do so, as you do when something goes wrong with nothing but 10,000 feet of air around you. Air safety is an intimidating engineering problem, but it's utterly trivial compared to what it will take to build safe self-driving cars. Make no mistake, it's about time we tried... but we just need to not be stupid about it. Calling a glorified cruise control "Autopilot" is stupid.

WalterBright 10y ago

The autopilot in an airplane cannot be used without a pilot paying attention, either, but it is still called an autopilot. (For example, autopilots do not avoid traffic on a collision course.)

thesimon 10y ago
On the other hand: The pilots are highly trained to fly and how to use the autopilot including the limitations.
- bisby 10y ago
  And while the name is perhaps misleading to the xommon layperson, your comment of "it is not in fact an autopilot" is flat out wrong. Instead perhaps "it is in fact an autopilot, but you don't know what an autopilot is or how it should be used"
  - ams6110 10y ago
    You're arguing semantics. The average person will see "autopilot" and experience a few "happy" drives where the car stays in its lane and has no problems. Then they will stop paying attention and die when they are asleep when it "hands over control" at 60 mph due to a failed sensor or something.
- MagnumOpus 10y ago
  Except when they aren't - see Air France 447 for what happens when a driver has to step in after the autopilot can't cope with the situation. Then enhance the frequency of it happening by three orders of magnitude given that Tesla drivers are generally not professional drivers, let alone trained in the quirks of an autopilot in the beta release stage...
houssc 10y ago
To be fair planes aren't sold to relatively untrained individuals. Furthermore many accidents have happened when trained pilots stopped paying attention on the job and autopilot failed. I'm totally expecting a "Florida Man in Fatal Tesla Crash Was Masturbating to Internet Pornography" headline.
moogly 10y ago
You know that; I know that; the average Joe on the street does not, and instead has a Hollywood interpretation of the term. Tesla knowingly and cynically exploits that.
sokoloff 10y ago
The A380 now has the capability to respond to resolution advisories (RAs) on autopilot. You're correct that most do not, but there's now one that does.
hash-set 10y ago
This is the worst of both worlds--having people become complacent behind the wheel while a computer drives only to have to suddenly become engaged which you know isn't going to happen. A lot of people nod off while driving as it is. Take away the "you're going to die if you don't pay attention" part and then imagine what happens!
CamperBob2 10y ago
Of course it can be used without a pilot paying attention. But this rarely happens. If we trained drivers the way we train pilots, it wouldn't be a problem in cars, either. Also, the comparison would be more relevant if you had as much time to correct problems that occur eight feet away from an oncoming lane of 70 MPH traffic, and as many degrees of freedom in which to do so, as you do when something goes wrong with nothing but 10,000 feet of air around you. Air safety is an intimidating engineering problem, but it's utterly trivial compared to what it will take to build safe self-driving cars. Make no mistake, it's about time we tried... but we just need to not be stupid about it. Calling a glorified cruise control "Autopilot" is stupid.