Should Driverless Cars Be Given The Power To Make Ethical Decisions?

Now comes the hard part: deciding whether these machines should have power over who lives or dies in an accident.

The industry is promising a glittering future of autonomous vehicles moving in harmony like schools of fish. That can’t happen, however, until carmakers answer the kinds of thorny philosophical questions explored in science fiction since Isaac Asimov wrote his robot series last century. For example, should an autonomous vehicle sacrifice its occupant by swerving off a cliff to avoid killing a school bus full of children?

MDarringer - 6/25/2015 12:34:14 PM

-2 Boost

Like what? There's an old person and a child in a crosswalk and the car is going to hit one, so kill the oldster because the young one has so many years left?

Agent009 - 6/25/2015 12:49:40 PM

-2 Boost

They are tough decisions. One a driver MAY have to make, but will a computer even be able to process it?

It is safe to say not at this point just yet.

The technology still has lots of shortcomings to be addressed

MDarringer - 6/25/2015 4:30:00 PM

-2 Boost

We want autonomous cars why exactly?

trmckin - 6/25/2015 6:13:48 PM

+1 Boost

Ethics are subjective. If you want an autonomous life, the owner should be the one held responsible for the decisions made by their machine.

TomM - 6/26/2015 8:14:44 AM

+1 Boost

Why would a person who had nothing to do with the "programming" be responsible for decisions that programming makes? It does not even follow that a person who purchases an autonomous vehicle would clearly KNOW what those decisions would be - have the ability to change those decisions on their vehicle - or necessarily agree with ALL of the possibilities. And that means that this is murky legal area - one that would not be easily defined.