Is my car my friend?
Concerning cars, big or small, expensive or not, old or not, you spend a lot of time in them. Our society would be so different without them, and they’re an integral part of what makes it modern right?
Not as much as our phones, but in a way they’re an extension of who we are, for example they truly reflect the social and economical steps of our life.
All of that to say that in a way, if they could speak or “be”, they would probably be our friends. Same applies for the cars belonging to our family and friends.
But self-driving cars will change this relationship. I won’t go into the philosophy of it, nor the psychology of it, but I will talk a bit about the Tech side of a popular moral problem relating to this.
The thought experiment we will look at together today is really neatly summarized by the picture below.
How do you chose the answer?
But how do YOU code it?
At the end of the day, if such situation happens, what is the car going to do?
The car is going to do what it is instructed to do. And that essentially is the burden of the self-driving coders.
So let’s go through their hypothetical thought process (brought to you by our beloved MIT)
(click “Start Judging” you judgemental freak)
At the end you should get results in comparaison to the average population.
Why I’m bringing this up is to let you know that sure, you have a valid opinion concerning this moral problem, but at the end of the day your opinion doesn’t matter if it’s not the one coded in these cars.
How can one objectively define what is a better choice, without going down the dangerous paths of Eugenics (which was for reference one of Hitler’s main ideologies)?
More abstract theme than most of my other articles, but one I’m happy to discuss with you, check my Contact Tab at the top of the page!
