I have a friend, commuting 6hrs every day (3hrs + 3hrs back) in a Tesla model S, using autopilot (3 days a week). He has been doing it for almost a year now. So far, so good... given the number of miles driven, it is actually pretty good.
No it isn't. As the article implies, the number of miles driven, or even the amount of time driven, isn't a good estimate of AI quality. The best standard is the number of unusual events that the autopilot could handle without human intervention.
I've had 30 hours of driving in a Tesla, and I had to intervene 6 times, twice with no warning. That doesn't mean that Autopilot isn't a useful tool, but it does require operator diligence.
When I said that it is pretty good, I base it solely on the fact that my friend is still alive, even while driving 6hrs per commute mostly on autopilot. I will have to ask him how often he has to intervene (mostly highway). But I do know that he has been watching a lot of Netflix during his commute... so your mileage might vary.
It is like Ethernet vs token ring. Not as safe and especially no guarantee. Some packet or life lost. Ethernet win for simplicity and ease of expansion/installation and surprisingly for management. Not completely safe. No driving is.
