Item — HN Reader

You comment describes exactly why this is so amazing - the autopilot executes the same as a competent driver! It's magic because it's the first time in human history that we've had such skills available in a car autopilot.

It's like saying cruise-control is worthless because any competent driver can maintain their speed - you're missing the point.

We're achieving parity between autopilots and human drivers, except the autopilot will never be distracted or tired, and always operates with the skill of a competent driver (and many drivers are not competent).

3 comments

>You comment describes exactly why this is so amazing - the autopilot executes the same as a competent driver!

I can agree with this. Too bad it isn't the default sentiment instead of over-the-top optimism or cynicism.

I don't think anyone here is surprised that people get into stupid, easily avoidable car accidents all the time. The argument seems to be about where the technology currently sits. In this video the Tesla braked and avoided rear-ending the colliding cars; so did the vehicles with no autopilot in the right lane. This is "impressive" to some people, but it's also the bare-minimum level of acceptability for self-driving vehicles.

> You comment describes exactly why this is so amazing - the autopilot executes the same as a competent driver!

Not just a competent driver, but a competent driver that is primed to be looking for a hazard in a short video clip.

> it's the first time in human history that we've had such skills available in a car autopilot

I doubt this assertion is true: lot's of cars with plain old cruise control can select a safe following distance and detect when the car ahead is braking. Roof-mounted LIDAR can see several cars ahead (and behind) and it would be negligent to to apply the same collision avoidance logic to car n+1