Definition

Noun: 1. A navigational device: A mechanical or electronic system that automatically controls the course of a vehicle (such as a ship, aircraft, or spacecraft) without constant manual input from a human operator. 2. A mental state: A condition in which a person performs routine actions or tasks without conscious thought or awareness, often due to habit, fatigue, or distraction.

Examples of Usage

• Noun (Device):
  • The captain engaged the automatic pilot for the long transoceanic flight.
  • Modern ships rely heavily on their automatic pilot systems.
• Noun (Mental State):
  • After work, I drove home on automatic pilot.
  • She answered the customer's questions while her mind was on automatic pilot.

Advanced Usage

• "on automatic pilot" / "on autopilot": This is the most common idiomatic phrase. It describes performing actions in the mental state defined above.
  • I was so tired that I made breakfast on automatic pilot.
  • After years of practice, the pianist played the piece on autopilot.

Variants and Related Words

• Autopilot (n): A common shortened, informal form of "automatic pilot," used identically for both definitions.
  • The plane's autopilot kept it level.
  • My brain is on autopilot today.

Synonyms

• (For the device): Autopilot system, self-steering gear, gyropilot.
• (For the mental state): Unconscious competence, routine, habit, mechanically, without thinking.

Related Idioms

• To be/go on autopilot: To function in the state of performing tasks automatically without active thought. (This is the primary idiom for this word.)
  • Don't just go through life on autopilot; make conscious choices.

Noun

1. a navigational device that automatically keeps ships or planes or spacecraft on a steady course
2. a cognitive state in which you act without self-awareness
   • she went about her chores on automatic pilot
   • too much of the writing seems to have been done on automatic pilot
   • she talked and he dozed and my mind went on autopilot