Interesting read from Ars Technica:
Survey: Autopilot name causes people to overestimate Tesla capabilities
Survey: Autopilot name causes people to overestimate Tesla capabilities
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Fsd/autopilot: What's In A Name?
- Thread starter edigest
- Start date
Eno Deb
Active Member
It will only get worse given that some of the former Autopilot functionality is now officially called "Full Self-Driving Capability" ...
Kant.Ing
Member
With a better name, the ever growing warnings through the years in the manual can all be removed and nobody will need to RTFM!
I agree; the name is just marketing. The actual capability has nothing to do with the name ...
There's a chart in the article. I consider zero of those behaviors safe.
Autopilot (and FSD as it stands today, and even as it's likely to stand for a long, long time) are just driver aids. And they are excellent driver aids, but that's all they are.
I love mine dearly, but wouldn't consider it anything else, no matter what marketing calls it.
For those familiar with the Gartner hype curve, I'd say we're right about approaching the bottom of the Trough of Disillusionment ... We'll be out of it pretty soon with a realistic understanding of what Autopilot and FSD are all about.
(Image credit to Olga Tarkovskiy - File:Hype-Cycle-General.png - Wikimedia Commons - all I did was add a red star about where I think Tesla is today.)
There's a chart in the article. I consider zero of those behaviors safe.
Autopilot (and FSD as it stands today, and even as it's likely to stand for a long, long time) are just driver aids. And they are excellent driver aids, but that's all they are.
I love mine dearly, but wouldn't consider it anything else, no matter what marketing calls it.
For those familiar with the Gartner hype curve, I'd say we're right about approaching the bottom of the Trough of Disillusionment ... We'll be out of it pretty soon with a realistic understanding of what Autopilot and FSD are all about.
(Image credit to Olga Tarkovskiy - File:Hype-Cycle-General.png - Wikimedia Commons - all I did was add a red star about where I think Tesla is today.)
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Knightshade
Well-Known Member
Most folks complaining that the AP name is over-promising don't seem to know what actual AP on aircraft or marine craft does.
Just like in the Tesla, they're operator aids- not replacements for operators.
Now FSD, that's a much worse can of increasingly-inaccurate-naming on Teslas part.
Just like in the Tesla, they're operator aids- not replacements for operators.
Now FSD, that's a much worse can of increasingly-inaccurate-naming on Teslas part.
While I agree with you, I don't believe that it is fair to expect the general public to have a more complete understanding. The public perceives autopilot to mean that the thing can takeoff and land on its own. Not sure how old people around here are, but I have some recollections of the 80's when we bombed Lybia with the F-111's, and reports that one of them had a pilot killed, but the plane made it back and landed on its own. That, IMHO, is what people think of when they hear that a plane is on "autopilot."
If that is true it may explain why so many mis-use and mis-understand the Tesla Autopilot. The reality is, very few airliners make auto-takeoffs and auto-landings on any given day. Most airliners are not even capable of auto-landing.
The description Tesla uses, "automatic driving from highway on-ramp to off-ramp" is actually descriptive of the way autopilot is used on modern jets. Engage after take-off (on-ramp) and disengage after approach (off-ramp) prior to landing.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the consumer here is not culpable. I'm just saying that perception plays a very big role in this, and there is a MISperception of what it can do. For example, there have been recent reports of Tesla owners sleeping while AP is engaged (yeah, and I know the other NSFW one), and one driver took a video. Problem is, he believed that if the defeat device (something tethered to the wheel) fell off, AP would turn off and crash the car. He was mistaken, but he was quoted in news articles.
Basically, Tesla is still at a point where it impressions are all over the map. And unfortunately, it is a very polarizing company/car.
