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Funnily "autopilot" is pretty much the closest term to an accurate description for cruise control. Unfortunately consumers have different expectations for an "a

Funnily "autopilot" is pretty much the closest term to an accurate description for cruise control. Unfortunately consumers have different expectations for an "autopilot" than real life. Real life aviation autopilots are much much dumber and simplistic than the whole deep learning world models control systems setup they have running because pilots in planes have to continuously monitor the avionics and radio, everything is controlled down to a T. It's definitely disingenuous of Tesla to exploit the two different interpretations of the word here.

lloeki 3y ago
Heh that's correct, for the earliest/longest time "autopilot" in aircraft meant "maintain constant airspeed + attitude (with later bonus points for bearing and altitude)" so technically the automotive equivalent would really be cruise control + lane keeping. Ironically in happy conditions there's much more leeway in an airborne craft for the autopilot to make the occasional mistake: you don't really run out of air if AP misses the mark by a few degs for a few seconds, whereas on ground you'll quickly run out of road. In a way flight mode normal law is closer to autopilot than to actual direct mode piloting. So "autopilot" would be technically correct, although piloting in automotive has a significantly different meaning than in aircraft, I mean pilots are for racing... But anyways even if technically correct "auto" is sadly misunderstood as "human do nothing" which is untrue... "self driving" though is a downright lie, "full self driving" is a tautology, as there can not be such a thing as "partial self driving: either a thing drives itself or it does not! (and as of today no automotive vehicle does). "supervised full self driving" has to be the most obscure, convoluted, and oxymoronic way to say "autopilot".
- KRAKRISMOTT 3y ago
  They should make every potential tesla buyer spend a few hours in a Skyhawk before buying an "autopilot" enabled car. The buyers are all more than rich enough to afford aviation.

lloeki 3y ago

Heh that's correct, for the earliest/longest time "autopilot" in aircraft meant "maintain constant airspeed + attitude (with later bonus points for bearing and altitude)" so technically the automotive equivalent would really be cruise control + lane keeping. Ironically in happy conditions there's much more leeway in an airborne craft for the autopilot to make the occasional mistake: you don't really run out of air if AP misses the mark by a few degs for a few seconds, whereas on ground you'll quickly run out of road. In a way flight mode normal law is closer to autopilot than to actual direct mode piloting. So "autopilot" would be technically correct, although piloting in automotive has a significantly different meaning than in aircraft, I mean pilots are for racing... But anyways even if technically correct "auto" is sadly misunderstood as "human do nothing" which is untrue... "self driving" though is a downright lie, "full self driving" is a tautology, as there can not be such a thing as "partial self driving: either a thing drives itself or it does not! (and as of today no automotive vehicle does). "supervised full self driving" has to be the most obscure, convoluted, and oxymoronic way to say "autopilot".

KRAKRISMOTT 3y ago
They should make every potential tesla buyer spend a few hours in a Skyhawk before buying an "autopilot" enabled car. The buyers are all more than rich enough to afford aviation.