My impression is that most non-pilots think that autopilot is a lot more sophisticated than it really is. People hear things like "planes can basically land th

My impression is that most non-pilots think that autopilot is a lot more sophisticated than it really is. People hear things like "planes can basically land themselves" which is sort-of-true, and they think the planes can actually land themselves when the reality is that the pilots need to set up ILS properly, make sure the engine thrust is at a reasonable level, do the proper communication with Air Traffic Control, and only then (maybe) can the plane land itself. Note: I'm not actually a pilot, so my details on landing with ILS might be a bit off.