Re: Jesus!
"Actually I see some similarity with the problem of automated airliner control systems. In both cases there is a (presumably skilled and experienced) human operator ready to intervene at a moment's notice. But then the automated system does more and more of the work, and the human operator just sits for hour after hour after hour...
And then, with no warning at all, a disastrous emergency arises and the operator is unready, shocked, disoriented, and more or less incapable of responding appropriately."
I'm not an airline pilot, but I would imagine that the timescale for responding to sudden emergencies is somewhat different. If one of your engines fails at 39,000 feet, you're going to have quite a lot longer than 1.3 seconds to deal with it. That's a very significant and important difference. Sure, if there's a major problem in the take-off or landing phase then that's more urgent, but you'd expect the pilots to be at their most attentive at those times.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
