MORAL DILEMMA WITH SELF DRIVING CARS

Moral dilemma with self-driving cars

How to choose who will be the victim in case of an accident?

Some of the standard features in most of the cars nowadays already include types of automated processes such as intelligent cruise control, speed control, parallel parking programs—features that allow you to sit back and let a robot or computer do the driving.

Replacing human drivers with robots or software that are consistent, calculating, and incapable of getting tired, drunk, or distracted could decrease the number of deaths per year. Self-driving cars can already be found on the streets. But before they can become widespread, carmakers must solve an impossible ethical dilemma of algorithmic morality.

Should the self-driving cars’ software be programmed to safe the passengers’ life in the event of an unavoidable accident even though maybe many other lives could be saved? Should it minimize the loss of life, even if it means sacrificing the occupants, or should it protect the occupants at all costs? Should it choose between these extremes at random?

Even though there is no right or wrong answer to these questions, public opinion will play a strong role in how, or even whether, self-driving cars become widely accepted.  In general, most people are comfortable with the idea that self-driving vehicles should be programmed to minimize the death toll. And therein lies the paradox. People would theoretically sacrifice their own life in order to save lives—as long they are not passengers in these cars.

Should different decisions be made when kids or babies are on board, since they have a longer time to live compared to adults or elderly people, and had less agency in being in the car in the first place? If a car manufacturer offers different versions of its moral algorithm, and a consumer is able to choose one of them, is he to blame for the consequences of the programmed behaviour and the systems’ decisions?

But, in fairness, these are early days in the self-driving revolution. Car manufacturers are already working on solutions, including the possibility of building vehicles with the artificial intelligence to decide differently in every situation. The self-driving car is one of the thorniest challenges in artificial intelligence today.