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Ethical dilemma on four wheels: How to decide when your self-driving car should kill you
Los Angeles Times ^ | 06/23/2016 | Karen Kaplan

Posted on 06/24/2016 8:20:32 AM PDT by BenLurkin

Self-driving cars have a lot of learning to do...

And, if the situation arises, they’ll need to know whether it’s better to mow down a group of pedestrians or spare their lives by steering off the road, killing all passengers onboard.

... Once self-driving cars are logging serious miles, they’re sure to find themselves in situations where an accident is unavoidable. At that point, they’ll have to know how to pick the lesser of two evils.

The answer could determine whether self-driving cars become a novelty item for the adventurous few or gain widespread acceptance among the general public.

...

The easiest question was whether a self-driving car with a single passenger should crash itself into a wall to avoid hitting a group of 10 pedestrians. About three-quarters of respondents agreed that sacrificing one life to save many more was the moral thing to do.

After that, things started to get tricky. The fewer pedestrians there were to save, the weaker the consensus that the car should sacrifice its passenger. If crashing into a wall would save just one pedestrian, only 23% of those surveyed thought that’s what the car should do.

When the researchers asked people to imagine that they were riding in the car with their child or another relative, their willingness to swerve away from innocent pedestrians faltered. Still, between 54% and 66% of survey takers agreed that the car should do what it must to save as many lives as possible.

This pattern of responses revealed people’s strong underlying preference for a “utilitarian” set of rules designed to maximize lives saved and minimize deaths — with one big exception.

“People want to live in a world in which driverless cars minimize casualties, but they want their own car to protect them at all costs,” Rahwan said.

(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Computers/Internet; Health/Medicine; Science; Society
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To: Dilbert San Diego

Ejection seats.


21 posted on 06/24/2016 8:40:56 AM PDT by blackdog (There is no such thing as healing, only a balance between destructive and constructive forces.)
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To: Larry Lucido

I don’t think your self-driving car will enter a ghetto. It’ll be on some no-go list that you note in the system as you purchase the car. It’ll be like driving south through Birmingham, Alabama....it’ll ask you if you want to refuel 40 miles before or 40 miles after....but it’ll tell you that getting off the interstate in Birmingham is not possible.


22 posted on 06/24/2016 8:44:02 AM PDT by pepsionice
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To: BenLurkin

“Dave.....what are you doing, Dave?

You’ve entered us in a demolition derby, Dave.

Perhaps you should get out and make sure the hood is latched, Dave.

Daisy, Daisy......”


23 posted on 06/24/2016 8:44:18 AM PDT by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
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To: BenLurkin

All this proves is Karen Kaplan is an idiot and the article is not really about self-driving cars.


24 posted on 06/24/2016 8:44:40 AM PDT by ifinnegan (Democrats kill babies and harvest their organs to sell)
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To: KrisKrinkle

[ “The easiest question was whether a self-driving car with a single passenger should crash itself into a wall to avoid hitting a group of 10 pedestrians.”

Are the ‘pedestrians’ holding ball bats, tire irons, machetes, concrete blocks, bicycle chains, etc.? ]

What will it do if it runs into a “Murder of Muslims” in the road....

I think “Murder of Muslims” is a like a group of crows, What do you call a group of Muslims, I think “Murder of Muslims” is the most accurate descriptor...


25 posted on 06/24/2016 8:50:17 AM PDT by GraceG (Only a fool works hard in an environment where hard work is not appreciated...)
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To: ichabod1

But liberal logic would tell you that since everyone
is going 30 mph. it wouldn’t make any difference since
there would be no velocity inequality.


26 posted on 06/24/2016 8:50:46 AM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: pepsionice

Technology this advanced could map out any trip with preferences and advisory. People might want to go to a dangerous neighborhood for any number of reasons. If an emergency suggested a dangerous neighborhood stop, the car could ask the rider for permission, warning about the trade-offs. Maybe a little hatch would open, a la James Bond, to give the passenger a gun.


27 posted on 06/24/2016 8:51:30 AM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: BenLurkin

What are the pedestrians doing in the roadway in the first place?

I’m supposed to sacrifice my life because some idiots decided to jaywalk? Don’t think so...


28 posted on 06/24/2016 8:52:25 AM PDT by Boogieman
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To: BenLurkin

Susan Calvin: What happened to you?

Detective Del Spooner: Headed back to the station. Normal day, normal life. The driver of a semi fell asleep at the wheel. Average guy, wife and kids, working a double. *Not* the devil. The car he hit, the driver’s name was Harold Lloyd. Like the film star, but no relation. He was killed instantly. But his twelve-year-old was sitting in the passenger’s seat. Never really met her. Can’t forget her face, though. Sarah.

[fingering the necklace]

Detective Del Spooner: This was hers. She wanted to be a dentist. What the hell kind of twelve-year-old wants to be a dentist? Yeah, um... the truck smashed our cars together and pushed us into the river. You know, metal gets pretty pliable at those speeds. She’s pinned, I’m pinned, the water’s coming in. I’m a cop, so I know everybody’s dead. Just a few minutes until we figure that out. NS4 was passing by and jumped in the river.

NS4 Robots: [from flashback] You are in danger!

Detective Del Spooner: [from flashback] Save her!

NS4 Robots: [from flashback] You are in danger!

Detective Del Spooner: [from flashback] Save her! Save the girl!

Detective Del Spooner: But it didn’t. Saved me.

Susan Calvin: The robot’s brain is a difference engine. It’s reading vital signs. It must have done...

Detective Del Spooner: It did. I was the logical choice. It calculated that I had a 45% chance of survival. Sarah only had an 11% chance. That was somebody’s baby. 11% is more than enough. A human being would’ve known that. Robots,

[indicating his heart]

Detective Del Spooner: nothing here, just lights and clockwork. Go ahead, you trust ‘em if you want to.


29 posted on 06/24/2016 8:53:05 AM PDT by NonValueAdded (JFK Wanted To Send Man To Moon - Obama Wants To Send Man To Ladies Room)
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To: The Cuban

Give me a break. If they decided to flout the rules of the road and step into traffic, then they made that choice, not me.


30 posted on 06/24/2016 8:53:39 AM PDT by Boogieman
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To: Boogieman

In real life, we can drive competently enough that jaywalkers are almost never a serious issue. Being mobbed in the street is a different story, but you’re talking jaywalkers here.


31 posted on 06/24/2016 8:53:40 AM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: Boogieman

What do you want to use that break to do? Show more callousness?


32 posted on 06/24/2016 8:54:08 AM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: NonValueAdded

Excellent.


33 posted on 06/24/2016 8:57:10 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: ichabod1
A bit of an argument ad absurdum, but it’s occurred to me that in a driverless car world, your car would never exceed the speed limit. It would take forever to get from point A to point B going 30 mph, for example.

And just what is going to mean for all those podunk towns who set up their speed traps to fund their coffers?

34 posted on 06/24/2016 8:58:15 AM PDT by Smittie (Just like an alien, I'm a stranger in a strange land)
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To: HiTech RedNeck; BenLurkin; marktwain; DesertRhino
I think that this ethical survey ignored the most basic moral conundrum that this new technological marvel presents; should we turnover ethical questions to machines?

I say no.

I don’t think that we write an ethical algorithm that can make snap decisions in a fraction of a second deciding life or death.

I certainly don’t think it would be ethical to do so.

35 posted on 06/24/2016 8:58:27 AM PDT by Pontiac (The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminishes the human spirit.)
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To: NonValueAdded

That was one of the Isaac Asimov robots, wasn’t it. It wouldn’t LET you sacrifice.


36 posted on 06/24/2016 8:58:37 AM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: HiTech RedNeck

Well, the way the question is posed you only have the option of driving through them or killing yourself. Obviously that is not a situation that describes some avoidable jaywalkers, but sounds more like people who decided to jump into the roadway in front of traffic on purpose.

If they want to suicide like that, it’s on them, not me.


37 posted on 06/24/2016 9:00:02 AM PDT by Boogieman
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To: Pontiac

Well we do have a lot of computer aided whatever whose function is important to safety.

Ultimately, though, these are just machines carrying out someone’s will. And always will be — this is why I scoff at the idea of a singularity of machine takeover, though I might not scoff at much at the idea of people choosing to WORSHIP machines. It’s wrong, but always possible.


38 posted on 06/24/2016 9:00:31 AM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: HiTech RedNeck

It’s callous to say I wouldn’t kill myself to save a suicidal idiot? I’d say it’s common sense.


39 posted on 06/24/2016 9:01:27 AM PDT by Boogieman
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To: Boogieman

Someone who popped out on purpose would pose a different thing to react to than someone who blindly wandered out, but the question you should still ask is, what would you do if YOU drove the car.

If this is your attitude, that you aren’t at least going to slam the brakes hard to try to lessen the damage to the kamikaze pedestrian, then that speaks for itself.


40 posted on 06/24/2016 9:02:23 AM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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