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I don’t understand why so many take issue with the feature being called Tesla Autopilot. I’m a pilot and believe it is a pretty accurate name. Do regular folks

I don’t understand why so many take issue with the feature being called Tesla Autopilot. I’m a pilot and believe it is a pretty accurate name. Do regular folks think an aircraft autopilot does everything? Traditionally, it is just a system that holds heading and altitude. Some are even simpler and can only hold a heading. There are more recent advanced implementations that have a sequence of courses and altitudes to cover a flight route and departure/approach procedures along the way —- but it is still a fairly unintelligent system. Most aircraft autopilots are ignorant of traffic, weather, flight conditions, air law/regulations, etc. I say most because aviation technology continues to evolve and there’s some neat stuff emerging. But the majority autopilots in aircraft in service today look very similar to Tesla Autopilot if you go down the features they cover.

sunkenvicar 5y ago
Yes, most people think autopilot flies the plane.
shermozle 5y ago
There's a whole lot less to run into at 40,000 feet.
dogma1138 5y ago
Firstly yes most people don’t understand how an autopilot work, not to mention that there are varying degree of autopilot for aircraft ranging from what is essentially cruise control to those capable of take off and landing. Secondly unlike pilots drivers aren’t trained on how to drive with an auto pilot and they don’t require to be certified for every car model and software version / package combination like pilots do. So I as a passenger don’t need to assume or think about what capabilities the autopilot in an A380 has that an A350 might not I can be assured that the pilots that fly these aircraft were certified to fly them and understand exactly the limits of their aircraft and how to utilize autopilot effectively and safely. Contrast it with Tesla’s advertised self driving capabilities and it’s a completely different picture. Not only that I as a driver do not know under which circumstances the autopilot should or shouldn’t be operated on and exactly what level of attention is required from me but also as another road agent I can’t make the correct assumptions about other autonomous agents because I don’t know their capabilities or even if they are in autonomous mode or not. The fact that there for example isn’t an indication light when a Tesla or any other “autonowannabe” vehicle is driving under no or partial driver control is still mind boggling.
- andrepew 5y ago
  I agree with all your points, my comment was mostly my confusion around many articles getting upset with the name "Tesla Autopilot" which seems like an honest description of the feature. There are practical implications of having an autopilot in a driving context as you've mentioned and those are perfectly valid criticisms that Tesla needs to address. Also, it is perfectly valid to criticize the less honest name the feature goes by -- "Full Self Driving"
tappaseater 5y ago
It's sold as FSD, Full Self Driving, but the reality is more like a aircraft autopilot. 3 year owner here and I can tell you it's deeply flawed and if aircraft mistook the top of cloud layer as the ground, it'd be a good analogy for the kind of mistakes it makes.
- andrepew 5y ago
  Full Self Driving is a much less honest name that people should be legitimately upset about. But I see article after article pick on specifically the "Tesla Autopilot" name which I always found strange.
cosmotic 5y ago
Autopilot in video games and movies does everything. More people exist that have experience with autopilot in video games and movies than has experience with autopilot in actual aircraft.
detaro 5y ago
It's more an outcomes and operator requirement perspective: When it gets used it gets a plane safely from A to B, without crashing, and pilots are not required to have split-second reactions to it failing. It has severe limitations in what it can handle, but the usage scenario is designed to make that acceptable. (That's not to say they are foolproof or never involved in accidents, but the failure scenarios are differently) This can't be said of Tesla Autopilots, since they are not intended to be only used in environments without physical obstacles and other traffic being kept at safe distances by ATC and warning systems. (they would be a lot safer if those environment restrictions existed, but most people would find them pretty useless then) Instead they rely on "... but you need to be always alert and react very fast to prevent a crash", which is a very different requirement on the operator. One that is fundamentally difficult, and evidently ignored by operators.

sunkenvicar 5y ago

Yes, most people think autopilot flies the plane.

shermozle 5y ago

There's a whole lot less to run into at 40,000 feet.

dogma1138 5y ago

Firstly yes most people don’t understand how an autopilot work, not to mention that there are varying degree of autopilot for aircraft ranging from what is essentially cruise control to those capable of take off and landing. Secondly unlike pilots drivers aren’t trained on how to drive with an auto pilot and they don’t require to be certified for every car model and software version / package combination like pilots do. So I as a passenger don’t need to assume or think about what capabilities the autopilot in an A380 has that an A350 might not I can be assured that the pilots that fly these aircraft were certified to fly them and understand exactly the limits of their aircraft and how to utilize autopilot effectively and safely. Contrast it with Tesla’s advertised self driving capabilities and it’s a completely different picture. Not only that I as a driver do not know under which circumstances the autopilot should or shouldn’t be operated on and exactly what level of attention is required from me but also as another road agent I can’t make the correct assumptions about other autonomous agents because I don’t know their capabilities or even if they are in autonomous mode or not. The fact that there for example isn’t an indication light when a Tesla or any other “autonowannabe” vehicle is driving under no or partial driver control is still mind boggling.

andrepew 5y ago
I agree with all your points, my comment was mostly my confusion around many articles getting upset with the name "Tesla Autopilot" which seems like an honest description of the feature. There are practical implications of having an autopilot in a driving context as you've mentioned and those are perfectly valid criticisms that Tesla needs to address. Also, it is perfectly valid to criticize the less honest name the feature goes by -- "Full Self Driving"

tappaseater 5y ago

It's sold as FSD, Full Self Driving, but the reality is more like a aircraft autopilot. 3 year owner here and I can tell you it's deeply flawed and if aircraft mistook the top of cloud layer as the ground, it'd be a good analogy for the kind of mistakes it makes.

andrepew 5y ago
Full Self Driving is a much less honest name that people should be legitimately upset about. But I see article after article pick on specifically the "Tesla Autopilot" name which I always found strange.

cosmotic 5y ago

Autopilot in video games and movies does everything. More people exist that have experience with autopilot in video games and movies than has experience with autopilot in actual aircraft.

detaro 5y ago

It's more an outcomes and operator requirement perspective: When it gets used it gets a plane safely from A to B, without crashing, and pilots are not required to have split-second reactions to it failing. It has severe limitations in what it can handle, but the usage scenario is designed to make that acceptable. (That's not to say they are foolproof or never involved in accidents, but the failure scenarios are differently) This can't be said of Tesla Autopilots, since they are not intended to be only used in environments without physical obstacles and other traffic being kept at safe distances by ATC and warning systems. (they would be a lot safer if those environment restrictions existed, but most people would find them pretty useless then) Instead they rely on "... but you need to be always alert and react very fast to prevent a crash", which is a very different requirement on the operator. One that is fundamentally difficult, and evidently ignored by operators.