[JonathonW]

The problem is that Tesla's taken systems intended as driving assists and branded them using terms like "Autopilot" that imply that a human doesn't need to be in the loop. Then you end up with people who haven't read the manual (because no one actually reads the manual) and let their car ram itself into a parked van because the brakes were "the autopilot's job".

I'm of the opinion that Tesla probably needs to back down on their "autonomous" stuff-- their half-baked semi-autonomous stuff is getting enough bad press that it's going to kill true autonomous tech before it can even make it onto the road.

[andrewpi]

>The problem is that Tesla's taken systems intended as driving assists and branded them using terms like "Autopilot" that imply that a human doesn't need to be in the loop.

Even in aviation, 'autopilots' don't mean the pilot can leave the cockpit unmanned. Human pilots are needed at all times in case the autopilot disengages due to unexpected conditions.

[JonathonW]

The distinction being that, when an airplane's autopilot disengages, the pilot's typically going to have a couple minutes to evaluate the situation and determine how to react appropriately, because airplanes typically don't just fall out of the sky. Tesla's "autopilot" gives you seconds to react if you wait until it disengages, if it knows to disengage at all.

[dragonwriter]

Most Tesla purchasers aren't pilots; the meaning communicated to them but the branding "autopilot" isn't based on experience in aviation, it's based on popular culture.

[sschueller]

Exactly this, someone needs to tell the Tesla PR department to scale back. Same goes for the 'bio weapon' defense thing.