And I mean this without any gratuitous negativity about Tesla or Elon... but branding lane-following/collision warning/adaptive-cruise control as "AutoPilot" is far more dangerous and has far more serious real-world consequences than Apple calling their backup application "Time Machine."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vNH-Q7fu7A
Yes, I'd say there's a problem.
The rest of the time, the pleasure of driving such a responsive machine made the autopilot superfluous.
In my country drivers are tested for eye sight, hearing,reflexes before getting the green light for the driving school(so sound is also important) and self driving cars should have mandatory tests to pass after each small update, at least to not allow DIY cars made by students to just test on public roads.
Hopefully self-driving cars use a lot more than just cameras, too.
I'm honestly puzzled that Musk doesn't seem to be taking this seriously and is joking about it on Twitter (he has an April fool's thing about Tesla being bankrupt). As much as I love Tesla's mission, they seem screwed to me. They just issued a massive recall, their autopolit system is killing people, their financials are terrible, and they haven't lived up to their manufacturing promises. Short sellers that have been talking about its downfall for more than a year are having a field trip now. I know that Elon seems to have this supernatural ability to bounce back, but it's hard to see how Tesla will survive this.
> Add to that that Elon said "self-driving is basically a solved problem" and that they'll be doing a cross country trip soon.
He's referring to the approach, and while perhaps a silly statement, Tesla is very clear on their web site that there is more work to do. Immediately after the pull-quotes in the parent comment, Tesla writes in bold letters: "Please note that Self-Driving functionality is dependent upon extensive software validation and regulatory approval, which may vary widely by jurisdiction."
Nobody gets to buy Full Self Driving without seeing a litany of disclaimers that it is not ready and that the timetable is unknown (and which are presented front and center, not buried in some lengthy contract).
> I'm honestly puzzled that Musk doesn't seem to be taking this seriously
I don't think this is right. Safety has been a first order concern in every vehicle Tesla has designed. It's the thing Musk has lead with in every vehicle presentation (even though crowds continue to find it boring). And it's been repeatedly cited by Musk and others at Tesla as a major motivation behind building Autopilot, even before NHTSA confirmed it as a safety improvement. We can debate approaches and results (and hell, even motives if you really want), but it seems clear from both words and actions that Tesla takes safety extremely seriously. I don't see the connection between a short-seller April Fool's joke on Twitter and taking Autopilot safety seriously.
> They just issued a massive recall
Yes, voluntarily, for a component that Bosch makes (and for which Bosch is paying for replacements) which may be prone to corrode, and that has never caused a known accident or injury. While we debate the seriousness of this, Ford is recalling more cars than Tesla has ever produced because the steering wheels are falling off. This is barely a footnote within the industry, is certainly not an existential threat to Tesla, and IMO it speaks all the more to how seriously they take safety.
> their autopolit system is killing people
At worst, Autopilot is preventing more crashes than it is causing. Almost certainly saving more lives than it is taking although of course proving a negative is harder. One-off situations and the element of control color how we think about crashes with automated systems, but NHTSA seems to feel that Autopilot is a significant net safety improvement.
> their financials are terrible
Eh, yes and no. They're operating on a maximization function for growth, which requires a high degree of financial risk-taking. So sure, they're in a tight spot, but it's in line with where they are on a risk/reward spectrum, and while capital may be expensive for them if the market loses confidence, there doesn't appear to be any threat that they won't be able to raise it.
> and they haven't lived up to their manufacturing promises.
Yeah. This is probably the best, fairest, and most lasting criticism of Tesla. I hope they can turn that around.
This is not a whimsical purchasing decision.
most tech people also know how "better than human" sounds to the public and the average driver. This isn't well meaning tech culture, it's a PR statement that is misleading and formulated the way it is precisely because it is a sales pitch.
It's irresponsible and unethical. It should be called a 'driver assistant' and have a warning label in font size 100 that tells drivers to not treat it as autonomous and infallible.
tl;dr: Lady was driving a car and the wheel fell off due to a manufacturing defect. Auto makers said they weren't liable cause Caveat Emptor. Supreme court said a normal person has no way of knowing if the wheel assembly on a car is defective. Auto maker was held liable.
Defective or misleadingly advertised auto pilot? The above on steroids.
Look at what Elon musk and Tesla put out in the event of accidents
> https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/04/25/elon-musk-...
> https://www.tesla.com/blog/update-last-week%E2%80%99s-accide...
Elon Musk has been hyping Autopilot for what it cannot be for a long long time
> https://www.reddit.com/r/teslamotors/comments/83og60/elon_18...
The Lockheed TriStar flight-control system flew a fully-automated chocks-to-chocks take-off, flight and landing in ... 1973 I think?
Anyway the comparison with aircraft autopilots is confusing. The pilots will usually couple the autopilot soon after take-off and from then it follows the commands of the Flight Management System through which the pilots interact; new waypoints, level changes etc.
Several test schemes are investigating uploading routings directly from ATC via datalink, with the pilots just having to press a button to accept.
There is also a proposal to permit TCAS to command the autopilot to prevent collisions, instead of providing advisory notice to the pilots.
https://www.reddit.com/r/teslamotors/comments/83og60/elon_18...
Can I blame Tesla for defending Autopilot capabilities with false claims and misleading statistics?
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/04/25/elon-musk-...
https://www.tesla.com/blog/update-last-week%E2%80%99s-accide...
The statistics around self self driving is a very complex topic. Regardless, thirst for outrage aside, even if sdc's are less safe now it's still worth pushing through as long term they will cost less lives once we get it right.
Well, look at this, copied from Tesla's website:
> Full Self-Driving Hardware on All Cars
> All Tesla vehicles produced in our factory, including Model 3, have the hardware needed for full self-driving capability at a safety level substantially greater than that of a human driver. [1]
An average person is going to read this and think, "This care drives itself, and it's safer than me!" The rest of the page describes space-age features like switching lanes to get to an exit faster and self parking:
> All you will need to do is get in and tell your car where to go ... Your Tesla will figure out the optimal route, navigate urban streets (even without lane markings), manage complex intersections with traffic lights, stop signs and roundabouts, and handle densely packed freeways with cars moving at high speed ... and park itself.
They're selling a car that full on drives itself. This is not being sold as adaptive cruise control.
FWIW, they included a weasel phrase by saying "hardware" is there, as opposed to software, but come on! An average person is not going to understand that distinction. I think they need to dramatically scale back the hype around this feature until it actually delivers what it promises.
Edit: I'm also confused by why they need to hype up autopilot so much. They are already selling more cars than they can make, and a sexy electric car appeals to lots of people. I think it would be enough to stick with that.
[1] https://www.tesla.com/autopilot