Self Driving : Personal Moral Decisions

Right now self-driving cars and trucks are hitting the road and will soon be available to the general market . Major companies like Google, Tesla, Uber and Delphi are leading in autonomous cars industry. In the past few years, these companies have made great strides improving this technology. Addressing the concerns for this technology must be concluded before it reaches the general public. Given the current state of automobiles that don’t need drivers the American consumer needs to be mindful that moral decisions this technology is handling puts them at risk due to the fact that this is emerging technology, laws are being made that will shape this technology, and who is choosing who lives and who dies.

This scenario is the most popularly used variation. Comparatively, the “footswitch” variation of the problem forces test subjects to choose between allowing a train to hit five people or pushing an uninvolved man onto the tracks to slow the train. A utilitarian would sacrifice one to save the five in both scenarios. Those who display utilitarian thought in the Trolley Thought Experiment tend to have decreased sense of responsibility, higher than average levels of testosterone, increased levels of anger, and low levels of serotonin (Duke). Surprisingly, it is most common in individuals with high cognitive ability and also prevalent in those suffering cognitive impairment from inebriation

Through comparing brain scans, scientists believe a portion of the brain involved with moral decision-making and ethical behavior is less active when processing information. The orbital lobe is responsible for this crucial part of the brain, and the less it functions, the greater the risk for violent

Patricia S. Churchland 's book entitled Braintrust: What Neuroscience tells Us About Morality, takes us on a walk through the scientific advances in evolutionary biology, genetics and neuroscience that have lead us to the question of wether morality can be explained or justified by science. The goal being an attempt at creating a framework for which to understand human morality. Churchland, a professor at the University of California San Diego in her book asks what is morality? Is it divinely inspired, or instinct, or an abstract set of rules? She argues, that a real understanding of morality begins with an understanding of the brain.

As seen by the moral dilemma restricting the growth and ubiquity of smart-cars, artificial intelligence has been relegated to being the lesser mind. Computers may be able to calculate at greater speeds, and outperform the human mind, but the dimension of values within the human mind can never be trumped by this amalgamation of hardware and software. In order to create and use technologies that are able to make decisions involving ethics, there needs to be a clearly defined partition. The reason being that said principles are not delineated in any omnipresent

As society progresses, we are having more and more control over the human brain. Science is perceived as a naturally neutral ground when it comes to ethics, their discoveries are completely dependent on knowledge as opposed to what’s right and what’s wrong, which does, and will continue to raise the ongoing question of how far we’re willing to go. “Science can only ascertain what is, but not what should be,” Albert Einstein said, “and outside of its domain value, judgments of all kinds remain necessary.” Though flying cars and robots have always seemed so far in the future, it seems that these huge advances of technology overthrowing our common morals and ethics is rapidly approaching.

The human brain relies on the senses to aid in moral decision making. One can only make the best decisions if the brain has conscious awareness. Kevin Carely leads us through this article discussing the important of evolution

Late Thursday evening, an Illinois police officer shot and killed a black driver that was following a routine stop for driving too slowly, just one day after another fatal shooting in Oklahoma. Reports say that while reaching for his wallet, Officer Harold Aring, shot Alfred Lacey. According to his younger brother, Lacey was instructed to show his license and registration. While gathering the requested documents, Lacey was shot four times.

Decisions are judged by the conclusion of a consideration. Have you ever had to make a decision that would ultimately render the way you or others viewed you? The narrator, Matt Windsor of the University of Alabama Birmingham expresses a character test through the “Trolley Problem” in his article, “Will your self-driving car be programmed to kill you if it means saving more strangers?” It is normally easy to judge circumstances, however once the pressure stacks on, the judgment becomes more and more blurred. Windsor forces us, as interpreters, to understand that some decisions are more complex and need to be taken in for more consideration.

As many people head out to start their days, a good majority will get into their cars and face many split second decisions. As humans when faced with split second decisions, it is impossible to always make the right choice. Autonomous cars are unable to make ethical decisions, such as deciding which way to swerve where both either direction (right or left) could endanger others.

A new technology is approaching, and it may change the world forever. Imagine a planet where traffic does not exist and there are no more drunk drivers on the roads putting people’s lives in danger. With the invention of self-driving cars, this dream world can be made into reality. A self-driving car is exactly what it sounds like, a car that operates on its own without a human driver. They have raised many controversies as to whether this invention is good or bad. Many people believe that self-driving cars are a threat to humanity, but it is the complete opposite. Self- Driving Cars will have a positive impact on society for many different reasons.

Technology continues to take over human beings as it develops. Self driving cars aides us when we drive its sensors and other functions to keep us from the dangers of accidents. These robots follow the code that they are programmed, so they strictly follow what has been told to do before hand. Which makes the aiding process harder for the programmer to code because it entirely depends on the context and they need to code that would suit every single accident. However, when the machine considers how to deal with the accident it needs to decide who to sacrifice or harm in order to maintain beneficence. Consequently leads to a problem from a business point of view. Possible solutions to these ethical issues of self driving cars are based on whether

An overwhelming majority of Americans do not know how to drive. I admit this is a broad statement, but my personal experience, which has been direct and not anecdotal, bears this out. The first, but not the primary source of information comes from the thousands of people that I, as a docent at the world famous Petersen Automotive Museum take on tours. These tours are very interactive and many of the conversations about cars in traffic, cars at speed, car safety, etc. typically draw a response along the lines of "Really, I didn't know that". Many of the young, (barely) driving age, people on these tours admit to knowing or having participated in street racing. These drivers have virtually no experience, are driving cars that, in many cases, have ever increasing amounts of horsepower, may be turbo charged, and have handling characteristics that change dramatically at speed and are winding up in ever increasing numbers as statistics, By the way, adults are as guilty. Even more so as they have some road experience and should have more sense. This is anecdotal, but it seems that the belief is that if you can afford a fast toy with high performance characteristics (Shelby Mustang, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Audi, Porsche, BMW, etc.) you should be able to drive it fast. Look at the accident stats. Go to a real "Performance" driving school -

Passing their test and getting their driving license, is a rite of passage for every teen. Unfortunately, it is a perilous one as teens are at such a high risk for automobile accidents. Adults who are on the road with them are at risk as well. Driving is the most dangerous way to travel and yet most Americans’ commute daily to their jobs. Self-driving vehicles may be the answer to this problem. Self-driving automobiles make one feel as if they are stepping into the future. It is a new technology that manufacturers are still perfecting. No one likes change, and most American’s are afraid of riding in a driverless vehicle. However, automobile accidents are the number one killer of teens and self-driving cars could save lives.

The Road is an interesting novel that has added to my perspective of morality and how it is explored in literature. Many books talk about morality, some are specifically about this topic but most tend to integrate moral questions into their plot. The Road differs in many ways from other books that explore moral questions. The Road’s plot has less action than many books, lending more of its pages to deeper discussions of morality after each event. When exploring the topic of the frailty of morality many books came at the topic in different ways.