> Automobiles contain the prefix auto- yet nobody assumes the car is self-driving.
Actually, in that regard yes they do -- "auto-mobile" = "moves itself", as in, you don't have to pedal or Fred Flintstone it...
> Most people understand it to mean gears don't need to be changed manually
No, that'd be "automatic gearbox". As in "Do you drive a manual or an automatic?"
So "autopilot" would suggest it does the piloting as well (ie, the stuff the person sitting at the controls -- the common view of a "pilot" -- normally does)
Actually, in that regard yes they do -- "auto-mobile" = "moves itself", as in, you don't have to pedal or Fred Flintstone it...
> Most people understand it to mean gears don't need to be changed manually
No, that'd be "automatic gearbox". As in "Do you drive a manual or an automatic?"
So "autopilot" would suggest it does the piloting as well (ie, the stuff the person sitting at the controls -- the common view of a "pilot" -- normally does)