From the Los Angeles Times
Controversy over Tesla 'autopilot' name keeps growing
By Russ Mitchell
What’s in a name? For Tesla’s driver-assist system “autopilot,” plenty of controversy.
Some of the most enthusiastic proponents of autonomous vehicles and features are worried that autopilot — not the technology itself, but the very name, which some find misleading — might slow down the evolution of the driverless car....
Autopilot is the term used for aviation electronics that allow a trained pilot and an automatic system to share duties flying a plane, and it’s got a cool, high-tech connotation.
“People familiar with the operation of aviation systems know that,” Geoffrey Nunberg, a linguist at UC Berkeley and contributor to the radio show “Fresh Air,” said in a telephone interview. But not the average person. To the public at large, he said, “autopilot refers to a state when you’re not applying thought, concentration and effort to what you’re doing.”