Hypothetical Question - Driverless Cars (1 Viewer)

[TheIronSheik]

Here's the scenario:

It is sometime in the future. A law has just been passed making it illegal to manually drive your own car, as each car has a computer onboard to do the driving for you. But during the development phase, many people became worried about computers making decisions based on life or death situations. For example, if in a split second, you had to decide to swerve to avoid an accident, human instinct would choose to save yourself even if the result ended in killing others. So you would avoid swerving off a cliff and choose to swerve into a school bus loaded with kids. But a computer would calculate that 1 death is better than multiple deaths, so it would swerve off the cliff, killing you.

As a compromise, the law states that you can decide whether your car thinks to save you first or save others. Any car that chooses to save the driver over others would be designated with a bright yellow stripe around the car. This way, everyone knows what decision you've made.

What would people choose? And while it's easy to say you'd rather give your life to save others, is that what you'd truly do?

What are your thoughts?

 

[Black Box]

What color stripe do I get if I want the vehicle to save my dog's life before a stranger?

 

[larch]

Once Safety Foam is developed, this will be moot.

 

[Cliff Clavin]

My life >>>> yours.

Give me the stripe.

 

[xulf]

Here's the scenario:

It is sometime in the future. A law has just been passed making it illegal to manually drive your own car, as each car has a computer onboard to do the driving for you. But during the development phase, many people became worried about computers making decisions based on life or death situations. For example, if in a split second, you had to decide to swerve to avoid an accident, human instinct would choose to save yourself even if the result ended in killing others. So you would avoid swerving off a cliff and choose to swerve into a school bus loaded with kids. But a computer would calculate that 1 death is better than multiple deaths, so it would swerve off the cliff, killing you.

As a compromise, the law states that you can decide whether your car thinks to save you first or save others. Any car that chooses to save the driver over others would be designated with a bright yellow stripe around the car. This way, everyone knows what decision you've made.

What would people choose? And while it's easy to say you'd rather give your life to save others, is that what you'd truly do?

What are your thoughts?

Once there are driverless cars, accidents won't occur without a random act of God. The cars will be able to communicate with each other and won't run into each other. If there is an accident around a bend, your car would already know it before getting to it and would take appropriate measures.

 

[Cjw_55106]

If the computer is smart enough to make that type of decision, an accident is not going to occur. Or, it certainly wont be bad enough to kill a school bus full of kids.

In any case, give me the stripe. Not necessarily for my sake, but why is the life altering path something my kids and wife should have to endure over others?

 

[Buckychudd]

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

 

[Officer Pete Malloy]

tl;dr

 

[FUBAR]

If the computer is smart enough to make that type of decision, an accident is not going to occur. Or, it certainly wont be bad enough to kill a school bus full of kids.

In any case, give me the stripe. Not necessarily for my sake, but why is the life altering path something my kids and wife should have to endure over others?

that's how I see this. If I didn't have kids, I'd rather die than kill a busload of kids. But I have kids who rely on me, so I'll take the stripe.

I'll assume I set the conditions for our cars and the setting would save my wife over others too.

 

[cstu]

Any car that chooses to save the driver over others would be designated with a bright yellow stripe around the car. This way, everyone knows what decision you've made.

If I choose to the save the driver over non-white people can I get a Confederate flag stripe?

 

[TheIronSheik]

I'd choose the stripe every time and I wouldn't feel bad about it at all.

 

[Juxtatarot]

Here's the scenario:

It is sometime in the future. A law has just been passed making it illegal to manually drive your own car, as each car has a computer onboard to do the driving for you. But during the development phase, many people became worried about computers making decisions based on life or death situations. For example, if in a split second, you had to decide to swerve to avoid an accident, human instinct would choose to save yourself even if the result ended in killing others. So you would avoid swerving off a cliff and choose to swerve into a school bus loaded with kids. But a computer would calculate that 1 death is better than multiple deaths, so it would swerve off the cliff, killing you.

As a compromise, the law states that you can decide whether your car thinks to save you first or save others. Any car that chooses to save the driver over others would be designated with a bright yellow stripe around the car. This way, everyone knows what decision you've made.

What would people choose? And while it's easy to say you'd rather give your life to save others, is that what you'd truly do?

What are your thoughts?

Once there are driverless cars, accidents won't occur without a random act of God. The cars will be able to communicate with each other and won't run into each other. If there is an accident around a bend, your car would already know it before getting to it and would take appropriate measures.

But presumably there will still be pedestrians, cyclists and wildlife to muck things up.

 

[Buckychudd]

Can I choose to save everyone except yellow stripers and get a red stripe or something?

 

[AAABatteries]

Now imagine that Hitler was on that bus.

 

[cstu]

I'd choose the stripe every time and I wouldn't feel bad about it at all.

We are making this decision every day of our lives that we choose not to give all of our money to save starving children.

 

[El Floppo]

it's been established that you'll end up with Arallon- happy new year.

 

[Scoresman]

Robots will be used for sex long before this ever comes to fruition, so there will be no real need to ever leave the house anyway. Question is moot, IMO.

 

[Brony]

I'd save myself, but mainly because I plan to save a bunch of people in the future. Maybe cure cancer or something. I dunno, we'll see, but there are plans.

 

[FUBAR]

Can I choose to save everyone except yellow stripers and get a red stripe or something?

don't drink and drive.

 

[Fat Nick]

I'd choose the stripe every time and I wouldn't feel bad about it at all.

x2. And honestly, I don't think there'd be any reason to feel bad as there would be a lot of striped cars out there. People are selfish enough with stuff that they can easily control (put your shopping cart back in the cart station dummies...it's 15 yards away). I don't envision I'm in the minority wanting to save myself.