Technology Self-driving cars programmed to kill you

Debi

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http://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...ve-to-be-programmed-to-kill-you-10326472.html


The self-driving cars that could soon dominate our roads, perhaps even making human-driven ones illegal some day, could end up being programmed to kill you if it means saving a larger number of lives.

This is routed in a classic philosophical thought experiment, the Trolley Problem.

Consider this:

'There is a runaway trolley barrelling down the railway tracks. Ahead, on the tracks, there are five people tied up and unable to move. The trolley is headed straight for them. You are standing some distance off in the train yard, next to a lever. If you pull this lever, the trolley will switch to a different set of tracks. However, you notice that there is one person on the side track. You have two options: 1. Do nothing, and the trolley kills the five people on the main track or 2. Pull the lever, diverting the trolley onto the side track where it will kill one person. Which is the correct choice?'

Though the whole point of driverless cars is that they are better at avoiding accidents than humans, there will still be times when a collision is unavoidable. As such, it is conceivable that whoever programmes them will decide that ploughing you into a road barrier is better than continuing your course into a bus packed with school children.

"Utilitarianism tells us that we should always do what will produce the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people," said UAVB and Oxford University scholar and bioethics expert Ameen Barghi, with this approach advising that changing course to reduce loss of life is the right thing to do.
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I'll just become house bound when I can't drive myself anymore...
I never dreamed I would ever live in a time where driving yourself in a vehicle could potentially be illegal. :mad: I like to drive. Up until recently, I have always had a car that not only got me from point A to point B, but it was fun driving it to point B! Being stuck in rush hour traffic aside, I enjoy driving. It is a great way to sort of meditate for me, and I like to think while I am driving - basically the opposite of today's drivers who are texting and blaring their music so loud that your car is shaking if you are stopped close to them. There is no way I want to turn over the safety of my life to a computer!
 
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Forget the cares...selfdriving TRUCKS are the next big death trap.



Self-Driving Trucks Are Going to Hit Us Like a Human-Driven Truck




The imminent need for basic income in recognition of our machine-driven future

Late last year, I took a road trip with my partner from our home in New Orleans, Louisiana to Orlando, Florida and as we drove by town after town, we got to talking about the potential effects self-driving vehicle technology would have not only on truckers themselves, but on all the local economies dependent on trucker salaries. Once one starts wondering about this kind of one-two punch to America’s gut, one sees the prospects aren’t pretty.

We are facing the decimation of entire small town economies, a disruption the likes of which we haven’t seen since the construction of the interstate highway system itself bypassed entire towns. If you think this may be a bit of hyperbole… let me back up a bit and start with this:

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That scares me to death! First, I want someone behind that wheel who knows how to drive the darn thing! Second, it would wipe out the economy.
 
Second, it would wipe out the economy.

But the rich guys who own the companies will make out like a bandit. Think of the money they save not only in salaries, but in benefits as well. Couple that with the potential robot army that will replace the warehouse workers at the various terminals around the country, and these guys will see profits increase by hundreds of millions of dollars. In today's Fascist America, that's all that really matters. :mad: