Sunday, July 09, 2017

The Ethical Dilemmas Of The Self-Driving Car

I am sure some geniuses in charge of working on the software for these things think about these issues, but I am also sure that they are just things to worry about to prevent them from worrying about the things that actually matter.
JULY 7, 2017 —Imagine that you’re driving through a residential area when your brakes fail. Directly in your path is a group of five jaywalkers. The only place to swerve is onto the sidewalk, where a pedestrian is waiting for the signal to change.

Who do you run over, the five jaywalkers or the one law-abiding citizen?

The "trolley problem" is a bit like the "ticking time bomb torture scenario" or the "would you travel back in time to kill baby Hitler?" scenario. Something to talk about when you're stoned in your freshman dorm room, but not actually a way of confronting serious problems.

Better to spend time on worrying about making brakes that don't fail, is the point...