[pps43]

Tesla autopilot is not that different from its namesake in airplanes. Autopilot does not fly the plane from JFK to LAX, it only maintains speed, altitude and heading. If anything unusual happens, autopilot disengages and drops controls back to the pilot.

So Tesla is not deceiving anyone.

[masklinn]

> Tesla autopilot is not that different from its namesake in airplanes.

Which is not at all how popular culture shows it, and thus not what people assume when they hear "autopilot".

> Autopilot does not fly the plane from JFK to LAX, it only maintains speed, altitude and heading.

There are autopilots which can do everything but taxiing and takeoff[0].

> So Tesla is not deceiving anyone.

Tesla is not deceiving actual pilots of airplanes large enough to have an autopilot old enough to only support stable flight maintenance. I'm sure that's great for all 10 of them.

Meanwhile, in the actual world there have been examples too numerous to count of people who pretty much expect the car to drive itself. Which I expect is exactly what the people who picked the term wanted: make it seem magic for the sales, but be technically correct enough that it covers your ass (and you can blame the driver) when it invariably fucks up.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoland

[forgottenpass]

So Tesla is not deceiving anyone.

Pilots must be trained to the capabilities and limits of autopilot in airplains before they can use it. They wouldn't be confused to the capability of flight instruments by their branding.

The regular person not only thinks autopilot is a magic make-the-plane-go computer, they also think the Tesla Autopilot is different in class than the same featureset with a boring moniker.