Because a negligence claim requires my estate to prove that you failed to exercise reasonable care.
If the AI is generally reliable, it's reasonable for you to trust it and take your hands off the wheel.
If the AI suddenly goes berserk, it would be hard to prove that you breached your duty of care, and are liable for negligence.
Likewise, suing the person behind the wheel of the self-driving car for negligence should work. Because the "non-driving driver" had the ability to seize the wheel, and should have known that some boneheaded behaviors are a risk with these early AIs.
The owner could then try to go after the company, but they're still ultimately responsible even if the company doesn't cover the cost for them
You are expected to be in control, or be able to be in control at all times. If there is such a possibility, anyways. If there isn't, that means the manufacturer is the one in control.
So yes, I'd say that would change things. IMO.
The user undoubtedly agreed to some T&Cs that mean taking their hands off the wheel even to push something on the touch screen is negligence:
From [1]:
Before enabling Autopilot, the driver first needs to agree to “keep your hands on the steering wheel at all times” and to always “maintain control and responsibility for your vehicle.” Subsequently, every time the driver engages Autopilot, they are shown a visual reminder to “keep your hands on the wheel."
Even though the self-driving system explicitly tells you to keep your hands on the wheel and yells at you if it doesn’t sense them often enough? I don’t think it’s an accident that all of the current systems do a lot of work to make sure you’re aware you’re driving even if the car is helping.
This is building the precedent that manufacturers know whether their systems can handle being unattended, and as soon as they don’t do this they’re liable.