The Trolley, The Bull Bar, and Why Engineers Should Care About The Ethics of Autonomous Cars [point of view]
Open accessAbstract
Everyone agrees that autonomous cars ought to save lives. Even if the cars do not live up to the most optimistic estimates of eliminating 90% of traffic fatalities [1], eliminating at least some traffic fatalities is one of the key promises of automated driving. Indeed, the first two principles of the German Ethics Code for Automated and Connected Vehicles lead with this goal as a normative imperative [2].The primary purpose of partly and fully automated transport systems is to improve safety for all road users. The licensing of automated systems is not justifiable unless it promises to produce at least a diminution in harm compared with human driving [...].
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One cannot exclude that the algorithms driving an autonomous vehicle may find themselves in circumstances where their decisions may result in harming some of the involved parties.
“While such extreme situations may be a simplification of reality, one cannot exclude that the algorithms driving an autonomous-vehicle may find themselves in circumstances where their decisions may result in harming some of the involved parties (Bonnefon et al., 2019).”
From Ethical principles in machine learning and artificial intelligence: cases from the field and possible ways forward (2020) · cites this paper as Bonnefon et al., 2019
In practice, the issue would be framed by the algorithm in terms of a statistical trolley dilemma, whereby the risk of harm for some road users will be increased.
“In practice, the issue would be framed by the algorithm in terms of a statistical trolley dilemma in the words of Bonnefon et al. (2019), whereby the risk of harm for some road users will be increased.”
From Ethical principles in machine learning and artificial intelligence: cases from the field and possible ways forward (2020) · cites this paper as Bonnefon et al. (2019)
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Cites
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Bonnefon, J.-F., Shariff, A., & Rahwan, I. (2016) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.aaf2654 · Cited by 1,527 · see citing works
Self-citationThe Problem of Abortion and the Doctrine of the Double Effect
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“In practice, the issue would be framed by the algorithm in terms of a statistical trolley dilemma in the words of Bonnefon et al. (2019), whereby the risk of harm for some road users will be increased.”
BackgroundThe Moral Psychology of Artificial Intelligence
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Self-citationCapable but Amoral? Comparing AI and Human Expert Collaboration in Ethical Decision Making
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Machine intelligence in cardiovascular medicine
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To what extent will blockchain drive the machine economy? Perspectives from a prospective study
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Mayer, M. M., Bell, R., & Buchner, A. (2021) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0261673 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
- Authors
- Bonnefon, J.-F., Shariff, A., & Rahwan, I.
- Affiliations
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- Max Planck Institute for Human Development (DE)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the IEEE
- Published
- 2019-03
- Volume
- 107
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 502-504
- ISSN
- 0018-9219 (ISSN-L)
- 1558-2256
- OpenAlex
- W2921874182
- Cited by
- 74
- References
- 9
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 4
- FWCI
- 4.91
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Proceedings of the IEEE (publishedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion)
- MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Automotive Engineering › Autonomous Vehicle Technology and Safety
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality › Safety Systems Engineering in Autonomy
- Keywords
- autonomous vehicles, trolley problem, ethical dilemmas, road safety, engineering ethics, harm reduction
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