Would You Ride in a Deathmobile?

Imagine you’re driving down the road when all of a sudden an oncoming car darts into your lane making a crash inevitable. You have a split second decision- hit the oncoming car full of people, or avoid the car by swerving and hitting a pedestrian. Which do you choose? Now imagine that your car was self-driving. Who teaches your car what it should choose in such situations? With the advancements in technology in recent years these situations are likely to become a reality; however, this reality brings with it many difficult questions. What should the car do when an accident is inevitable? I feel that the only “fair” logic to program into these cars is the logic that makes the car take the path of the least amount of harm for all parties involved. However, what should a car do if this “path of least harm” involves the death of the self-driving car’s passengers? Should it still take this path? I feel that in such situations the car should still take the “path of least harm.” If this logic is consistent in all self-driving cars everyone will know the risk they are taking by riding in a self-driving car and the outcomes will always be what’s best for the greater collective good. All that being said, if that’s the logic in self-driving cars, I’ll never ride in one.

Read the article that inspired this post here.