[sksixk]

i can't get my head around a car and a human driver sharing the driving duties at the same time. if you can't trust the car to do everything correctly, then what am i supposed to do as a driver?

sit there tensely with my right foot and hands hovering over the brake pedal and steering wheel?

[mikeash]

You watch.

By not having to devote attention to keeping your car within a foot of the lane's center, you have more attention to devote to the bigger picture of what's going on.

For example, have you ever tried to change lanes, done a quick shoulder check to see if the spot is clear, and then looked back ahead only to find that the car in front of started braking heavily and you're approaching it rapidly? With Autopilot this is not a concern, because you can let the car monitor the car in front, while you look to the side.

The first couple of hours with Autopilot, drivers typically are sitting there tensely ready to take over. But with experience, you learn how the system works, where it behaves well and where it fails, and you learn to relax, pay attention to the big picture, and let your strengths and the car's strengths complement each other.

[chadgeidel]

How is this different than the automatic transmission? Antilock brakes? Traction control? Lane departure/encroachment warnings? Adaptive cruise control?

Or even older tech like "drive by wire" (your foot isn't directly connected to the throttle bodies) or manually adjusting the choke in carbureted vehicles?

These are innovations that have happened in my lifetime. I'm sure there are even older "car and driver sharing duties" examples others can come up with.

[robbrown451]

It's very different. But some of those things, like adaptive cruise control, get close. But even with adaptive cruise control, if you completely stop paying attention, you will be reminded very quickly that you are doing it wrong.

With this, you could go for hours without having to do a single thing, and then suddenly you are expected to jump in and take control with barely a second's notice. That is just bad human factors.

[chadgeidel]

I would refer to @mikeash's answer as I feel it addresses this question.

[robbrown451]

Again, I don't see how that is supposed to work. How long are people going to pay attention to "the big picture" when they still are only very rarely required to do something? If they don't have to do some action to actually keep the car on the road or to avoid getting honked at every 30 seconds or so, their minds will drift off.

This is just regular human nature. Sure you can do it for a while, but after a while you stop doing it.

I am quite sure that Tesla et al will discover soon enough you can't rely on people to step in like that. They just need to get their cars to work better than humans, all the time. (or as Elon Musk said, they should be at least an order of magnitude safer)

[henrikschroder]

It lessens the cognitive load in easy driving situations, such as sitting in a queue on the highway. A hand on the wheel, your foot wherever you want, eyes on the road is enough. Just knowing that the car will take care of the small things is a massive offload.

Also, you learn what your car is good at and bad at, and plan accordingly. I know my car is bad at handling drivers changing into my lane too close to me, so I take over in those situations.

[esmi]

Does this make sense to you? In this system the plane and human pilot share duties.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_flight_control_sys...