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What is the benefit of an auto-drive function if you have to pay constant attention to it? Essentially, autopilot's main value proposition is that you don't ne

What is the benefit of an auto-drive function if you have to pay constant attention to it? Essentially, autopilot's main value proposition is that you don't need to pay attention to it -- and that's what makes it so dangerous.

vorpalhex 4y ago
The wife got a new car - not a Tesla - that has several smart cruise control features. She actually ended up disabling some of them. She explained that they "made driving too easy" and it was too hard for her to keep her attention on the road while using them.
Domenic_S 4y ago
As a bay-area commuter, the value prop is not having to micromanage the accelerator/brake/steering wheel in stop-and-go traffic. I did the commute for years in "regular" cars, and I've done it for years with autopilot, and autopilot is without a question a much easier commute. There is a continuum between actively driving the car and falling asleep in the back seat, and AP puts you somewhere on the left side of the middle. It's generally great stuff. All the point-to-point full-self-driving BS is meh, I don't really care about it, but give me world-class TACC and lane keeping (original autopilot) and I'm a happy commuter.
- warning26 4y ago
  > the value prop is not having to micromanage the accelerator/brake/steering wheel in stop-and-go traffic I largely agree with you here, having driven a car with adaptive cruise control in stop-and-go traffic and finding it to be a total game changer. That said, I'd argue there's a huge difference between having the car micromanage the accelerator+brake versus having it micromanage the accelerator+brake+steering. With the former, the driver must remain engaged with the driving task (even though the most tedious aspect is taken care of), but with the latter, no engagement whatsoever is required.
- kaba0 4y ago
  But that is a decade old technology available in even low-end cars, and is not responsible for car crashes because it was never marketed as anything more. Tesla maliciously advertises as much much more than adaptive cruise control, lane assist, etc, which is disgusting on their part.

vorpalhex 4y ago

The wife got a new car - not a Tesla - that has several smart cruise control features. She actually ended up disabling some of them. She explained that they "made driving too easy" and it was too hard for her to keep her attention on the road while using them.

Domenic_S 4y ago

As a bay-area commuter, the value prop is not having to micromanage the accelerator/brake/steering wheel in stop-and-go traffic. I did the commute for years in "regular" cars, and I've done it for years with autopilot, and autopilot is without a question a much easier commute. There is a continuum between actively driving the car and falling asleep in the back seat, and AP puts you somewhere on the left side of the middle. It's generally great stuff. All the point-to-point full-self-driving BS is meh, I don't really care about it, but give me world-class TACC and lane keeping (original autopilot) and I'm a happy commuter.

warning26 4y ago
> the value prop is not having to micromanage the accelerator/brake/steering wheel in stop-and-go traffic I largely agree with you here, having driven a car with adaptive cruise control in stop-and-go traffic and finding it to be a total game changer. That said, I'd argue there's a huge difference between having the car micromanage the accelerator+brake versus having it micromanage the accelerator+brake+steering. With the former, the driver must remain engaged with the driving task (even though the most tedious aspect is taken care of), but with the latter, no engagement whatsoever is required.
kaba0 4y ago
But that is a decade old technology available in even low-end cars, and is not responsible for car crashes because it was never marketed as anything more. Tesla maliciously advertises as much much more than adaptive cruise control, lane assist, etc, which is disgusting on their part.