Why Self Driving Cars Must Be Programmed to Kill
technologyreview.com
Why Self Driving Cars Must Be Programmed to Kill
1–10 of 13 posts
Re: Why Self Driving Cars Must Be Programmed to Kill
#2I'm not sure it's true they must be programmed to kill. In general they will be programmed to avoid killing anyone. I imagine in situations that they do kill people it will be because the systems failed rather than by calculation.
Re: Why Self Driving Cars Must Be Programmed to Kill
#3I'm not sure it's true they must be programmed to kill. In general they will be programmed to avoid killing anyone. I imagine in situations that they do kill people it will be because the systems failed rather than by calculation.
Their hypothetical situation seems a little dubious, and it seems unlikely a self-driving car would ever allow itself to get into a situation like that in the first place.
Re: Why Self Driving Cars Must Be Programmed to Kill
#4I'm not sure it's true they must be programmed to kill. In general they will be programmed to avoid killing anyone. I imagine in situations that they do kill people it will be because the systems failed rather than by calculation.
Their hypothetical situation seems a little dubious, and it seems unlikely a self-driving car would ever allow itself to get into a situation like that in the first place.
Because no self-driving car will ever have pedestrians dart out in front of it?
Re: Why Self Driving Cars Must Be Programmed to Kill
#5Earlier quoted context omitted.
Their hypothetical situation seems a little dubious, and it seems unlikely a self-driving car would ever allow itself to get into a situation like that in the first place.
Because no self-driving car will ever have pedestrians dart out in front of it?
At 30mph? Or are we assuming 10 pedestrians are somehow running out onto a major highway? I'm struggling to see how this is a valid scenario. If you can think of one, please share...
Re: Why Self Driving Cars Must Be Programmed to Kill
#6If two people run out in front of the car, and my option is to swerve to take out one innocent person on the side-walk, should I stay on the road, harming the people who broke the road rules? I would be breaking the road rules if I swerved and also I'd be harming someone who did no wrong.
Re: Why Self Driving Cars Must Be Programmed to Kill
#7... or we could just program an external airbag in the radiator instead and be more creative. A "capot airbag", why not? People in an automatic car do not really need to see out to drive.
Re: Why Self Driving Cars Must Be Programmed to Kill
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
Their hypothetical situation seems a little dubious, and it seems unlikely a self-driving car would ever allow itself to get into a situation like that in the first place.
Because no self-driving car will ever have pedestrians dart out in front of it?
In areas where this is likely to happen, cars don't go that fast and should have plenty of time to stop. If pedestrians are actively trying to commit suicide and the only way to prevent that is to kill the driver or an innocent bystander, then hitting the suicidal pedestrians is preferable.
More generally, I think the car should try to stay on the road and it its lane whenever possible, and only leave that space when it's absolutely safe to do so. People on the street have chosen to interact with cars, people on the sidewalk haven't. And the best way to avoid an accident is usually to brake, and not to swerve into someone else or into a wall.
Re: Why Self Driving Cars Must Be Programmed to Kill
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because no self-driving car will ever have pedestrians dart out in front of it?
At 30mph? Or are we assuming 10 pedestrians are somehow running out onto a major highway? I'm struggling to see how this is a valid scenario. If you can think of one, please share...
Two kids run out into the street chasing a ball. Kill the kids or the occupant?
Even one kid runs out into the street. Hit the kid straight ahead or risk the occupant(s) by crashing the car or turning the car into an unknown area?
Car is about to be struck by a red light/stop light runner from the left. Swerve off the road to prevent it (into an area of "unknown contents, possibly including pedestrians") or just take the hit without evasive maneuvering?
There were multiple scenarios researched via MTurk in the story, with variable numbers of pedestrians.
Re: Why Self Driving Cars Must Be Programmed to Kill
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because no self-driving car will ever have pedestrians dart out in front of it?
In areas where this is likely to happen, cars don't go that fast and should have plenty of time to stop. If pedestrians are actively trying to commit suicide and the only way to prevent that is to kill the driver or an innocent bystander, then hitting the suicidal pedestrians is preferable. More generally, I think the car should try to stay on the road and it its lane whenever possible, and only leave that space when…
The question the article raises is not "should an autonomous vehicle ever use its brakes to avoid an accident?" but rather "in a situation where brakes are insufficient and the controller of the vehicle needs to make a decision about how to weigh the risks to various people, how should those decisions be made?"