[ExI] Autonomous car ethics

[spike]

-----Original Message-----
From: extropy-chat [mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf
Of Chris Hibbert
Sent: Saturday, June 25, 2016 10:17 AM
To: ExI chat list <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
Subject: [ExI] Autonomous car ethics

 > >...Should a self-driving car kill its passengers for the greater good ?
 > for instance, by swerving into a wall to avoid hitting a large number  >
of pedestrians?

>...This is entirely an academic philosophy question, and not at all a
question that needs to be resolved before self-driving cars should be put on
the road...Chris
  --


I may have misunderstood what I was told about the algorithm or something
has changed, but I heard that swerving is not one of the evasive maneuvers
available to a self-driver.  In an emergency situation it brakes hard.  It
can move to one side of the lane if that space is clear but if an unaware
driver starts to drift over (a situation perhaps everyone here has been in,
and possibly even done) then the self-driver brakes hard while moving away
but doesn't do anything analogous to a human driver swerving.  If a squirrel
or dog darts out, the car brakes hard but doesn't swerve to miss.

This feature introduces new challenges and possibly dangers.  We humans look
through the car ahead of us, perhaps without even being aware we are doing
it.  If the car in front of us has a clear road in front of it, that car can
sometimes cause an accident by suddenly braking hard.  I am told some
insurance company scammers do this, since it is the fault of the guy in
back.

OK so as self-drivers become more common over the next few years, we need to
give the car ahead of us a little more room, unless we have auto-braking.
Note that one of the unintended consequences of anti-lock brakes is that it
might have caused the car with it to have less risk of hitting a Detroit in
front but increased the risk of being hit by a Detroit from behind.  If a
prole has that feature and the prole behind does not, the guy up front can
get maximum braking every time.  In the transition period while some cars
had it and some didn't, you have this paradoxical increased risk.

I saw the steering-wheel-free Google car over in Mountain View last month.
Cool!

spike