It is comparable to an airplane autopilot, but not to the public misconception of an autopilot. An airplane autopilot is another complex control, not another pilot.

If I command my autopilot to fly me into terrain or into a thunderstorm, it will do so. If I command it to climb at a vertical speed that the engine power can’t support, it will fly the plane into an aerodynamic stall. If I’m flying on autopilot, I still have to pay close attention and still log pilot time as “sole manipulator of the controls”. If I crash on autopilot, it’s still overwhelmingly [human] “pilot error”, not “autopilot error”.

People hear autopilot and incorrectly assume it’s, “Hey George, fly me to LaGuardia and wake me upon landing.”