[ExI] [Bulk] Self-Driving Cars Must Make Ethical Decisions

spike spike66 at att.net
Wed Jul 29 19:48:50 UTC 2015


 

 

From: extropy-chat [mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of William Flynn Wallace
Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2015 12:00 PM
To: ExI chat list
Subject: Re: [ExI] [Bulk] Self-Driving Cars Must Make Ethical Decisions

 

>>…introducing the technology too slowly poses ethical problems of its own for we know there are people with drivers licenses who shouldn't have them…spike

 

 

>…I vote for:  the car won't start if you have an illegal alcohol content.  (Would have saved me a night in jail and a lot of money back in my stupid(er?) days).  bill w

 

 

 

Alternative, the car will start and will take the passenger home upon positive identification, but will ignore all inputs to controls from inert drunk.  Or insist that the drunk get in the back seat.  If there are two drunks appropriately oriented, good chance they would welcome that anyway.

 

On the other hand, that poses new ethical dilemmas.  The drunkard is spam in a can once that trip home starts.  It is unclear to me what happens if the drunk decides to not go home, for any number of perfectly legitimate reasons (robocar arrives at home and drunkard and sees mother-in-law’s car in the driveway, or passenger has a medical emergency just as she passes the hospital, watching helplessly as it recedes in the mirror, etc.)  I don’t think we can arrange for a car to work against the passenger’s wishes, even if the car knows the carbon unit is impaired.

 

Tough problem.  I think we need to offer the option to drinkers and dopers to have their car take them to the stable without further instructions.  Horses used to do that in the old days.

 

spike 

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