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Robot Cars

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Robot cars are seemingly beneficial; however, it comes with a host of potential complications and hazards. Patrick Lin presents a facet of the potential problems associated with robot cars in Here’s a Terrible Idea: Robot Cars with Adjustable Ethics Settings. After analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of robot cars, including those presented in Here’s a Terrible Idea: Robot Cars with Adjustable Ethics Settings, I believe that we should stop the development of robot cars.
Like Lin, I agree that there are many potential problems associated with robot cars. For example, a problem arises when determining with whom the responsibility would lie for determining the ethics settings of robot cars. If the manufacturer decides the ethics settings …show more content…

For example, if your robot car chooses to veer in the direction of one innocent bystander in an effort to save the four people in the robot car from driving off a cliff, how can we guarantee that the four people will actually survive? What if in spite of the vehicles effort to save the four people, it instead leads to the death of everyone involved? Because there is no way of predicting the actual consequences, this is one of the many faults of robot cars. If the vehicle is programmed such that the safety of the consumer is prioritized, it would be in line with that of an ethical egotist; it would only maximize the consumer’s well-being. For example, in an instance where your car is faced with the choice of saving you or a group of four innocent bystanders, it would save you. Because this option is unsettling, it could lead to an undesirable lawsuit against the autonomous vehicle manufacturer. Whether the car is programmed to maximize utility or prioritize the consumer’s life, each option leads to further drawbacks to robot cars.
In addition to the flaws of robot cars presented by Lin, there are several other disadvantages to robot cars, some of which include malfunctioning sensors, system hacking, and most importantly, jeopardizing public

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