But the Autopilot has cameras, and therefore it has 3+1D
data (2D frames, 1D inferred depth from stereo or
training, 1D time from frame diffs).
When making safety-critical real-time systems, we prize simplicity as simple code has fewer bugs and can be audited more thoroughly.
I mean _really_ simple - to deploy an airbag, early systems were as simple as checking the accelerometer works at startup, then firing the airbag if the acceleration passes a threshold consistent with a crash.
If your safety system relies on multiple cameras, stereo vision, camera motion tracking, and a neural network, it ain't simple.
That's why IMHO every self-driving car needs LIDAR - you need to be able to detect the firetruck or highway divider in from of you without relying on a million lines of code.