What I don't understand is why Tesla doesn't whitelist roads where this feature can be used, since the manual sets very specific conditions. Especially given that the feature is currently enabled, they must know which roads work with high confidence values.
Or assume they wanted to do the right thing from the start, and they don't have this dataset. It's not as if we don't have OpenStreetMap (or as if they couldn't buy a commercial dataset) in which you can easily filter out straight highways.
With this it could probably even work without being attentive as a driver, which would be a killer feature over the current state of affairs (currently it has no benefits whatsoever, if you follow the instructions, which is why probably almost nobody does).
Why not have Autopilot running and monitoring the sensors to learn the road, but not have it actually take control of the vehicle? Even if the driver is manually in control the Autopilot system could still be learning.
Tesla may have begun by doing that. Recall that last October autopilot was introduced "over the air", so, customers who already had vehicles could use it immediately. Presumably, Tesla was collecting data up until that point.
I imagine Tesla is generating more sales with a usable autopilot. It generated quite a bit of media hype and they are having trouble keeping up with production demands.
So, Tesla chose to introduce this feature to increase sales and get more data on how drivers interact with the system. It seems excessively risky to me. I'm not building a self-driving system myself, nor running a huge company, so I can't say much about what it takes to do that. I can say I would not like to drive on the road next to a vehicle that can unexpectedly make the wheel turn, forcing its driver to be corrective at a moment's notice.
Or assume they wanted to do the right thing from the start, and they don't have this dataset. It's not as if we don't have OpenStreetMap (or as if they couldn't buy a commercial dataset) in which you can easily filter out straight highways.
With this it could probably even work without being attentive as a driver, which would be a killer feature over the current state of affairs (currently it has no benefits whatsoever, if you follow the instructions, which is why probably almost nobody does).