Comment on Tesla Whistleblower Says 'Autopilot' System Is Not Safe Enough To Be Used On Public Roads

linearchaos@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

• Ottomateeverything@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Unfortunately this is one of those things that you can’t significantly develop/test on closed private streets.

  Even if we hold this to be true (and I disagree in large part), the point is that Tesla’s systems aren’t at that stage yet. Failing to recognize lights correctly during live demos and such are absolutely things you can test and develop on closed streets or in a lab. Tesla’s shouldn’t be allowed on roads until they’re actually at a point where there are no glaring flaws. And then they should be allowed in smaller numbers.

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  • linearchaos@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Do you really think they didn’t test that before they got to this point?

    I’m willing to bet they had been through that intersection before hundreds of times and never seen this. It’s not like it can’t detect a stoplight and they’re just out there randomly running through them all.

    Of the millions of variables that were around them something blinded it to light this time. The footage from that run has probably been reviewed at nauseam at this point and is done more for them finding the problem than they could have done sitting in a closed warehouse making guesses when the car never fails to detect a red light.

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    • pivot_root@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I still wouldn’t trust the company with a CEO who unilaterally decided that not having redundant systems makes for a better product.

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      • linearchaos@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        I absolutely don’t trust the CEO. I don’t even need to trust the company, there are a dozen others trying to work out the same problem.

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    • Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Do you really think they didn’t test that before they got to this point?

      Yes.

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      • linearchaos@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        well if you’re not going to discuss things in good faith, good bye

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• TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  That’s true, but I think the issue people have with “AutoPilot” is about marketing.

  Tesla brands their cars’ solution as being a full replacement for human interaction and word from Musk, other Tesla employees, media personalities close to Tesla, and fanboys all make out like the car drives itself and the only reason you need a driver in place is to satisfy laws.

  It’s bullshit. They know exactly what they’re doing when they do the above, when they call their system “AutoPilot”, when Musk makes claims his cars can travel from one side of the US to the other without human interaction (only to never actually do it, of course!), and sells car upgrades as Full Self Driving support.

  If they branded it as Assisted Driving, Advanced Cruise Control, Smart Cruise, or something along those lines, like all the other carmakers do with their similar systems, I’d be less inclined to blame Tesla when there’s an unfortunate incident.

  But Tesla markets and encourages, both officially and unofficially, that their cars have the ability to drive themselves, look after themselves, and that you’re safe when using the system. It’s a lie and I’m absolutely astounded they’ve had little more than a series of slaps on the wrist.

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  • linearchaos@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    100% accurate.

    They want people to use it so they get data from it. Accidents and deaths will happen… honestly, they’ll always happen… they happen now without it, it’s just more acceptable because it’s human error. Road safety is absolutely awful.

    The reason they get away with it is Lobbying, Money and Political favors. They got where they are by greasing a whole shit ton of wheels with dumptrucks of money.

    Shitty means, but pretty righteous ways.

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• dpkonofa@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  My pet theory is that people are so erratically different as drivers that the data they’re collecting is too variable to make it useful. Throw in people who aren’t paying attention or are on their phones and Teslas might teach themselves bad behavior.

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  • Takumidesh@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Tbf, Tesla’s are the only cars that actually know you are on your phone and/or not paying attention.

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    • FlyingSquid@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      And then make you look at and use a giant touchscreen to control anything, taking your attention off the road.

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    • dpkonofa@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      That’s not entirely true. They didn’t activate any of the interior cameras until 2022. The majority of their training data doesn’t have that context.

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      • Takumidesh@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        So it is true, but it wasn’t true in the past? It can also be disabled by breaking the camera or putting tape over it. The point is that it does do that, which is a true statement.

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• gregorum@lemm.ee ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  The fact is that most technology that we take for granted today went through a similar evolutionary phase with public use before they became as safe as they are now, especially cars themselves. For well over a century, the automobile has made countless leaps and bounds in safety improvements due to data gathered from public use studies.

  We learn by doing.

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