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Autopilot in planes is not remotely as you described. It is used to reduce cognitive load precisely so pilots can pay more attention to higher cognitive demand

Autopilot in planes is not remotely as you described. It is used to reduce cognitive load precisely so pilots can pay more attention to higher cognitive demand tasks than maintaining straight and level flight. Such as collision avoidance, radio communication, navigation, briefing, etc. Your point only alleges that amateur yacht drivers act irresponsibly, not that naval autopilot systems are inherently unsafe.

ceejayoz 4y ago
Garmin released a product that does the radio comms, navigation, and landing in an emergency. https://discover.garmin.com/en-US/autonomi/ https://discover.garmin.com/en-US/autonomi/
- tjohns 4y ago
  If by "radio comms", you mean playing a pre-recorded emergency message on a loop telling everyone to get out of the way. It can't visually identify non-ADS-B traffic (and I'm not even sure yet if it will avoid ADS-B equipped traffic?), it can't comply with ATC clearances, it can't coordinate with other pilots in the pattern, and it will happily fly your aircraft right into potentially-fatal icing conditions. It certainly can't be used during routine flight. Garmin Autoland is a wonderful piece of engineering, but even at best it's not a replacement for what a pilot would normally be doing to safely navigate. It's strictly there as a last-resort measure if the pilot is incapacitated.
  - lsh123 4y ago
    … and it will happily fly you into a construction crane that was notam’d a couple weeks back ;)
sidewndr46 4y ago
You're 100% correct, but my point is still valid: "autopilot" on a yacht and what tells calls "autopilot" are totally unrelated.