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Autopilot is not self driving. The human is still driving the vehicle and the human is still responsible for stopping the car from hitting things.

romwell 7y ago
Well, then what is it doing? Crashing your vehicle into semis when your attention lapses for a second? Then it should be properly marketed as autocrasher, not autopilot. An autopilot that requires that you have your hands on wheels and pay attention at all times is missing the auto part of the autopilot (reminder that auto means self). So such a system can't be called an autopilot.
- kozak 7y ago
  It's not too bad if you compare it with the meaning of the original word as used in aviation context: a relatively primitive device that automatically keeps the trajectory of the aircraft (regardless of what is ahead by that trajectory). But it does sound misleading when presented to the general public (as opposed to highly trained professionals, which is the case in aviation context).
- manicdee 7y ago
  It’s auto pilot where pilot means the person steering ng a ship. There is still executive oversight required as in a captain or at least a navigator. It’s not “autodrive”.
  - romwell 7y ago
    sigh Piloting here means "controlling a vehicle", i.e. driving. As in "Formula 1 pilot". Do you think "Formula 1 pilots" are sailors?
- nick_kline 7y ago
  It's analogous to an autopilot of an airplane. It keeps going straight, direction, speed, altitude. An airplane can fly straight and level right into an airplane. For some reason (partly Teslas'), people look at a tesla autopilot and think it does everything reliable. They used this misleading name, but people should understand it same way they understand a plane's autopilot.
lolc 7y ago
Tesla calling their driving assistance "autopilot" is a marketing move. I don't see why we should accept their definition. Autopilot to me means that the human pilot can remove attention from immediate steering tasks. This is not true for the Tesla "autopilot".
- close04 7y ago
  AP is like a student driver. Perfectly safe as long as the instructor is there to take over with very short notice. So saying AP is safe because % crashes in $ millions of miles is pretty irrelevant. AP only drives with supervision and when this is missing it crashes. How many times did the driver have to intervene to avoid the crash? Tesla provides no data about this. But next time you hear “AP is so safe it only crashed 3 times” just remember that student drivers also almost never crash. As long as it needs constant attention, not considering this in the statistics makes them irrelevant.

romwell 7y ago

Well, then what is it doing? Crashing your vehicle into semis when your attention lapses for a second? Then it should be properly marketed as autocrasher, not autopilot. An autopilot that requires that you have your hands on wheels and pay attention at all times is missing the auto part of the autopilot (reminder that auto means self). So such a system can't be called an autopilot.

kozak 7y ago
It's not too bad if you compare it with the meaning of the original word as used in aviation context: a relatively primitive device that automatically keeps the trajectory of the aircraft (regardless of what is ahead by that trajectory). But it does sound misleading when presented to the general public (as opposed to highly trained professionals, which is the case in aviation context).
manicdee 7y ago
It’s auto pilot where pilot means the person steering ng a ship. There is still executive oversight required as in a captain or at least a navigator. It’s not “autodrive”.
- romwell 7y ago
  sigh Piloting here means "controlling a vehicle", i.e. driving. As in "Formula 1 pilot". Do you think "Formula 1 pilots" are sailors?
nick_kline 7y ago
It's analogous to an autopilot of an airplane. It keeps going straight, direction, speed, altitude. An airplane can fly straight and level right into an airplane. For some reason (partly Teslas'), people look at a tesla autopilot and think it does everything reliable. They used this misleading name, but people should understand it same way they understand a plane's autopilot.

lolc 7y ago

Tesla calling their driving assistance "autopilot" is a marketing move. I don't see why we should accept their definition. Autopilot to me means that the human pilot can remove attention from immediate steering tasks. This is not true for the Tesla "autopilot".

close04 7y ago
AP is like a student driver. Perfectly safe as long as the instructor is there to take over with very short notice. So saying AP is safe because % crashes in $ millions of miles is pretty irrelevant. AP only drives with supervision and when this is missing it crashes. How many times did the driver have to intervene to avoid the crash? Tesla provides no data about this. But next time you hear “AP is so safe it only crashed 3 times” just remember that student drivers also almost never crash. As long as it needs constant attention, not considering this in the statistics makes them irrelevant.