Honestly, his simple base argument that Tesla’s Autopilot is unsafe is defeated by the mere fact that there are not many accidents — fatal or not — caused by Autopilot relative to the number of cars out there. Get the data for 100,000 Autopilog Equipped Tesla’s and 100,000 regular cars of any brand or model, and compare the data.
He can talk about being an electrical engineer, knowledgeable in QA — whatever. Even if he is — it’s the internet, who knows what’s his true qualifications are — that does not give him any magical credibility or expertise to judge. Especially since his main form of evidence are three marketing YouTube videos.
The facts are:
- If I go out searching for videos of Ferraris crashing, I will find videos of Ferraris crashing. If I go out to find videos of Toyotas burning, I will find videos of Toyotas burning. Give me a video of a successful Mercedes Autonomy test, and I can find a video of a Mercedes crashing while on Autonomous mode. You will find what you seek, that doesn’t prove any conclusions.
- None of us know how much Tesla tests, how much time is spent, the quality of the testing, not the outcomes.
- We don’t know how much competitors test their Autonomous tech and software.
- None of us work on the teams tasked with writing the Autopilot code, designing the equipment, and testing the performance of Autopilot.
- Despite whatever we may have stuided in school or whatever our careers may be, we have no insider knowledge of the test process or anything with how Tesla’s functions as a company in general. Therefore, our backgrounds give us no credible knowledge or opinions to share.
- It is more likely than not that Tesla adequately tests its Autopilot software, hardware, and performance. We know this since there haven’t been a world wide event of Autonomous Tesla’s crashing on highways or freeways. Yes, they get media attention when they crash. Cars crash all the time. Compare the survival stats and I’d wager you’re safer with Autopilot enabled.
- It is most likely true that Tesla would have quite a lot to lose in terms of money and reputation if it were to not test Autopilot performance stringently. Especially since it’s a start-up company that has never made a profit; if it failed to test even its “beta” features, it could kill someone and generate intense negative P.R. and have severe financial consequences. Therefore, it is in the best interest for Tesla to adequately test its “beta” Autopilot and they more likely than not have and continue to do so. Despite what a lack of YouTube videos may imply.
- YouTube is not a credible source to base an argument.
Let him hold his beliefs. In these past 8 post-Model S years of driving and walking in L.A.(where I can often see hundreds of Autopilot equipped Tesla’s in a week), I’v yet to encounter any murderous autonomous Tesla.
