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posted by
cmn32480
on Monday October 31 2016, @06:16PM
from the explosions-killing-everybody-isn't-a-choice dept.
from the explosions-killing-everybody-isn't-a-choice dept.
Researchers at MIT have put together a pictorial survey http://moralmachine.mit.edu/ -- if the self-driving car loses its brakes, should it go straight or turn? Various scenarios are presented with either occupants or pedestrians dying, and there are a variety of peds in the road from strollers to thieves, even pets.
This AC found that I quickly began to develop my own simplistic criteria and the decisions got easier the further I went in the survey.
While the survey is very much idealized, it may have just enough complexity to give some useful results?
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(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Tuesday November 01 2016, @05:59AM
Let's analyze it:
If the self-driving car fails to diagnose impending brake failure,
If the impending brake failure would have been diagnosable, then it might be the manufacturer for not properly implementing the check. If the brake failure is due to lack of maintenance, it also might be the owner'sfault for neglecting proper maintenance.
fails to operate redundant parking or engine braking (elec or gas),
Again, that would be the manufacturer being responsible, for not programming in the use of that option.
happens to be in a situation where coasting to a stop is impossible,
For that, there might be none responsible; of course that cannot be decided without knowing the details of the situation.
happens to be by itself and not able to communicate with another automatic car to engage procedure 73.4 "the rescue rear-end", happens to not have any ditch, parked cars, urban furniture or trees to hit to get to a stop,
Nobody's failure in that, obviously.
is not equipped with instant tire deflators or a Turbo Boost button,
Might be considered the regulator's fault for not requiring this.
AND happens to find on its path a soft target which does not have time to react to honking and flashing headlights,
Again, without knowing the situation it's hard to tell, but most likely it's the fault of either the car manufacturer (if that situation would have been avoidable by more appropriate driving procedures — e.g. by going at appropriate speed), or the soft target (suddenly entering the street closely in front of the car).
Note also that depending on the exact situation and legal situation and the extend to which the driver is able to override the car's decisions, anything that is a bad decision by the car might also be at the same time a bad decision by the driver who didn't override the car when it obviously did the wrong decision.
Anyway, there are enough "depends on the situation" here that a lawsuit is unavoidable.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.