| > Well actually, they are allowed in the automotive world, re: Tesla. This is false: Tesla's "autopilot" isn't a control-loop, much less a certified control-loop. What Tesla calls "autopilot" is actually a "driving assistant". It is not in charge of controlling the car, but it is allowed to assist the driver to control the car. This is a subtle but very important difference, since this is the reason that Tesla tells its owners to always keep the hands on the steering wheel, and Tesla cars are required to disable their "driving assistant" in countries like Germany if the driver hands leave the steering wheel. It is also the reason that Tesla is not liable if a car with "autopilot" kills somebody, because the "autopilot" isn't technically driving the car, the driver is. The word "autopilot" comes from the aerospace industry, where pilots are not required to keep their hand on the controls or pay attention when the "autopilot" is on, and the manufacturer is liable if the "autopilot" screws up (e.g. see Boing). Tesla's usage of the word "autopilot" to refer to driving assistants is misleading and dangerous. A true car "autopilot" is what people call "Level 5" in the autonomous driving community. Elon Musk promised to ship 10.000 self-driving Level 5 Tesla taxis in 2019, and now mid 2020. We'll see about that.Elon Musk has been saying that Level 5 will happen next year for the last 10 years, so at least when it comes to autonomous driving, their predictions have been consistently wrong. Most CEOs who adventure to predict when Level 5 will happen say something like "not before 2030". And Waymo's goal is to achieve """Level 5""" in a very small restricted area of Phoenix downtown for some restricted weather conditions some time between 2020-2030, but it is unclear what the road after achieving it would be for certification, and the road from there to actual, real, Level 5 is still unclear at this point. |