Pros And Cons: The Ethical Use Of Autonomous Vehicles

The moral and ethical implications of the driverless cars like all other ethical issues have both pros and cons. This paper will underscore both sides [positive and negative] of the moral implications that will arise as a result of driverless or robotic cars. Two sides to the argument are presented with proponents’ belief that driverless cars will be much safer than cars driven by distracted and preoccupied humans. On the other hand, since no technology or system is perfect – who will be liable when a robot car crashes into someone? These and other moral issues will be explored.

An examination of the legal liabilities surrounding the developing technology involved in autonomous vehicles in the United States of America

Another advantage to autonomous vehicles is reduced traffic congestion. If all traffic is controlled by computers and GPS it would mean all cars will be able to drive at the same speed which means there will be less breaking which will lead to less traffic jams. Braking distances will be decreased because the cars computer will have a faster reaction time than a human, which means cars can travel closer together. This means more cars can fit on the road at any one time. Another way it reduces congestion is at traffic lights. Autonomous cars will be able to move off instantly as soon as the light changes to green which will mean the cars behind will not have to wait as long to move off [6]. This also means more cars will be able to travel one green light compared to when humans have control of the car.

Similarly, the article “The Moral Challenges of Driverless Cars” explains how driverless cars will be a safer alternative. It explains how humans are more prone to cause an accident than the driverless cars. The article describes the processing behind the vehicles and some problems they face while making them along with how this will delay their production. It also clarifies how the cars will be able to make the decisions that will keep people safe instead of putting them in harm’s way. Finally, the article describes the ethical issues and automation in cars today. According to Kirkpatrick, the cars are equipped with software that determine what reaction to make in different situations that would take a human more time to make, therefore, avoiding an accident. As stated in this article, there is still much work to be done before the cars are actually ready to sell to the public.

At the turn of the 20th century, serious debate raged in courtrooms and newspapers over whether the automobile was inherently evil. In 1907, one court compared automobiles to "ferocious animals" whose owners should be liable for their actions, with the crucial note that "it is not the ferocity of automobiles that is to be feared, but the ferocity of those who drive them." Even now, one of the biggest attractions of autonomous vehicles is the prospect of getting negligent motorists out of the driver's seat. But in terms of the effect on car accident cases, that's just the start.

When dealing with autonomous cars, there are many ethical questions raised that need to be answered before they are released on the road. Like if the vehicle is in a situation where it would either hit a person or an oncoming car, which would it choose? Or would the vehicle choose to crash itself into a wall, possibly injuring the occupants?

Currently one of the main topics of discussion in the AI community is self driving cars. Self driving cars would be much safer than manually operated cars and with a lot of work they could even be developed to form a network across the country they are in so that they can “talk” to each other. This would greatly reduce the amount of deaths resulting from cars. However self driving cars have also raised plenty of issues such as the fact they could put many professional drivers out of work. Furthermore there are many moral issues raised by automated cars, the trolley problem, a problem involving choosing between killing one or more persons as opposed to another group/person, is a very popular theory right now as self driving cars would have to

Since the beginning of self-driving cars which first began in 1925 with the creation of the Houdina Radio Control; a car operated by two cars, a transmitter, and an antenna, to now - the futuristic dream of these autonomous cars have transformed into the reality of cars we see now. These cars are nothing short of the new technology advances that have occurred over the past decade. However, with these advances many question whether or not these cars are ready to be sold, due to the fatal accident that occurred May 2016 involving the autonomous Tesla and a white truck. Due to the Tesla not being able to detect the white tractor because of technological issues, the tesla failed to stop, and since the driver was not prepared to steer, it lead to the fatal collision eventually leading to the death of the tesla owner. With the increase of these cars on the road, from companies like BMW, Daimler, Ford, Apple, Uber, and Google, this poses a serious threat to not only the people operating this autonomous vehicle but also to the surrounding drivers. I believe that autonomous cars should not be put on the road, and that these cars are not beneficial to the population.

Self-driving cars also face ethical and human behavior issues. How will self-driving cars decide who will live and who will die in quick decision making situations (Nelson, Gabe)? “If an accident is truly unavoidable, what decisions will the car face?”-Damier, CEO Dieter Zetsche.

Technology is taking over every day life, it is used from the first minute a person opens his/her eyes, to the time a person sleeps. For instance, it can start when a person picks up their smart phone to navigate the internet or to order something. Today’s society is gradually changing to that of convenience, which is largely built on the use of modern technology. For the past few years, there has been an ongoing development on the idea of the self-driving cars. Not everybody is excited about this new development. For instance, in the article, “Can You Program Ethics Into a Self-Driving Car?” By Goodall, Noah J., points out, “In each of these examples, a car is making a decision about several values—the value of the object it might hit as well

Self driving cars are, without a doubt, the future of the automobile industry. Although this technology could be extremely beneficial, some tough decisions come along with it. It seems preposterous to use the term “adjustable ethics” when discussing situations that can lead to life or death. How can ethics, an extremely human characteristic, be transferred into a machine without a real understanding of the world around it? By definition, adjustable ethics are decisions made based on the situation surrounding a person, and how they would apply their moral beliefs to that situation. Although innovation has created incredible technology that could save many lives and practically eliminate crash fatalities, there seems to be no concrete answer

Say you’re in the market for a new car and are given the choice between a standard vehicle, or an autonomous vehicle (AV). The typical vehicle you operate and drive yourself, while the AV does that for you, thus allowing you the freedom to do other tasks while in the car. Which would you choose? Personally, a self-driving car sounds extremely time saving. However, before we get too comfortable with the idea of a vehicle that can operate itself, we must consider the ethical issues involved with such an invention. We must also determine how AVs should be programmed in order to handle hard ethical dilemmas. I think AV’s should be programmed in a way that they prioritize their passenger’s safety, while still attempting to minimize overall harm done outside the vehicle. To promote this thesis, I will look at two thought experiments, the potential outcomes, and the best way to program AV based on certain ethical views such as consequentialism. I will then show why I believe prioritizing passenger’s safety is important. This paper does not intend to provide a clear solution to the ethical issues surrounding AVs, but rather intends to address factors, in addition to minimizing harm that programmers need to consider.

In this current year, autonomous cars are being tested and manipulated by automobile manufacturing companies around the world. Toyota plans to introduce its first models that are capable of self-driving to the market by 2020… and BMW intends to launch its self-driving electric vehicle, which it calls the BMW iNext, in 2021. The US Secretary of Transportation, Anthony Foxx, has even directly stated that he expects driverless cars to be in use all over the world within the next 10 years. While these cars are promising in that they could potentially reduce the number of car crashes- and thus, prevent many deaths from occurring- they also foreshadow many unavoidable ethical dilemmas. One dilemma that is commonly addressed relates to deciding how a machine should react in a dire situation where it can either choose to save the driver of a vehicle- killing innocent bystanders on the side- or to save the bystanders, while killing the human (who is also most likely also innocent) that is driving the vehicle. I don’t believe there is a way to create or find an absolute answer to this dilemma, as every person will have his or her own

In class and in previous readings we have learned that Ethics is involved in every aspect of Engineering. The article “Here is a Terrible Idea: Robot Cars with Adjustable Ethics Settings” is a good example that shows off the great importance of ethics in engineering. It is about the future adoption of autonomous cars and the ethical dilemmas associated with them. Specifically, it talks about the infamous Trolley problem when applied to autonomous cars. The scenario presented by the article consists of a person driving her autonomous car and not realizing that she is about to collide with five people crossing a road. The car could then save the life of the five people by quickly swerving into another direction. However, there is another person there, and if the car swerves she would be impacted instead. The autonomous car is then in charge of making the decision of what is the right thing to do in this kind of situation. From a utilitarian’s point of view, the consequences of an act are the only thing that matters for it being right or wrong. The right act is the one that will yield the maximum sum of pleasure for all entities involved. Therefore, in the trolley problem applied to autonomous cars, for a utilitarian the right choice would be to swerve right and kill that one innocent person instead of the other five people. Although not presented in the article,

Google’s autonomous car had clocked up 1 million miles on public roads, and the researcher planned to do more road test in the future in order to expedite launch the Google’s car. (Protalinski, 2015) The technology of autonomous car is mature enough to use. In addition, the law for autonomous car has been already passed in serval states including Florida, Nevada, and Michigan. (Boeglin, 2015) It seems to be obviously that autonomous are coming into and bringing profound effect in our daily life. However, before greeting this revolutionary vehicle, there are several problems that need to be solved, such as ethical dilemma, liability and privacy problems. In this essay, which decision is moral in emergency, who will be responsible for an accident made by an autonomous car, and how much intimate information of owner can an autonomous car use will be discussed.