In limited circumstances, that now exists in a car offered by Mercedes. So far the only level 3 certification in the US (and only in one state, unless something has recently changed). Tightly constrained limits, but supposedly it does give you 10 seconds to get your brain out of the movie or whatever you're doing on your laptop before you have to take control of the car. And if a wreck occurs in that time, it's on Mercedes.
Though I have to say, I'd think carefully about the laptop idea. Liability and physics are separate things, and I don't think I'd be comfortable anytime soon putting a laptop between the airbag and my face, whether the manufacturer technically has liability or not.
Maybe make the windshield from smart privacy glass to turn it into a projection screen (being mindful of what people will see from the outside), controlled with voice and sign language instead of a keyboard and mouse. With head and eye tracking, the whole interior could be a primitive holodeck.
Yes. The author is referring to Mobileye's proposed definition of autonomous driving levels [1], which are somewhat different from the traditional SAE ones. At the hands-off + eyes-off level you don't need to pay attention at all and can do whatever you want.
Does this mean what I think it means? Working on my laptop while the AI drives?