Does it even have to be about the “average” person? What percentage of the population has ever been exposed to real autopilot systems? For all the rest, sci-fi autopilot is the only reference point. A person doesn’t have to be particularly ignorant not to be exposed to these things; I’d tentatively posit most people growing up in an urban center have never been behind the console of a plane or a boat.
I agree. I think by average I was referring to what you said - most people have never controlled planes or boats. Perhaps “ordinary” would have been clearer.
