This article discusses the ethical decisions involved in the development of software for self-driven cars. It explores the challenges and provides recommendations for this technology.
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1ETHICAL DECISIONS IN SELF DRIVEN CARS Executive Summary Self driven cars are being anticipated to be the future of the transport sector. The various aspects of these cars are being discussed based on different perspectives that include ethics, social, engineering, design, economical and computer science. There have been some issues with the engineeringof these carsbut these are being resolved with the aid of the advancements in the technology. The main concerns in this case are the social and the ethical problems that are being considered as unsolvable decision making problem that is referred to as the trolley problem. In this sphere an ethical approach is required that is in accordance with applied engineering so that the technology fosters in the days to come. Thus the main area that needs focus is the analysis done on the real world engineering issues that are complex in nature and this case software plays an important role. Software being a vital part in the control systems of these self-driving cars should be able to deal with the prevalent ethical and social issues. In this report the ethical decisions that relate to the development of the software of self-driven cars will be discussed. The paper will focus on the challenges in this process and lastly provide some recommendations on the same.
2ETHICAL DECISIONS IN SELF DRIVEN CARS Table of Contents Introduction................................................................................................................................2 Discussion..................................................................................................................................2 Principles of ethical practice in self driven cars.....................................................................2 Basic problem solving and decision making part of self-driven cars....................................4 Complexities in the decision making process of self-driven cars......................................5 Regulatory Obligations of self-driven cars related to IT environment..................................5 Conclusion..................................................................................................................................7 Recommendations......................................................................................................................7 References..................................................................................................................................8
3ETHICAL DECISIONS IN SELF DRIVEN CARS Introduction The self driven cars are also referred to as autonomous cars and are an emerging innovation of the present era. These cars are driverless and related to distinct domains for example science and engineering perspectives. The technical problems in this scenario serve as challenges and are being dealt with at present. The ethical issues are a major element in these self-driven cars and are a topic of discussion for the engineers designing such cars. With the applications of artificial intelligence being at the top, self-driven cars are just another innovation. As per the research done by Hars (2015), a major part of the car manufacturing industry are working on autonomous cars and some have already released such cars on a commercial basis. Human errors are a significant cause of the road accidents and this technology promises to prevent accidents by successfully replacing the human part form the equation. As per the research done by Barabas et al. (2017), the challenges in case of the development of the software controlling these autonomous cars are a contrary to the promises of the technology that can be well understood from the recent case of Uber test vehicle accident in which a pedestrian got killed due to a driverless car. The trolley problem with respect to these self-driven cars that is considered an ethical thought experiment serves a commonexampleoftheunresolvedethicaldilemma.Theethicaldimensionsofthe autonomous cars decision making when in critical situation is evident. This paper will discuss on the ethical aspects of the development of the software of the self driven cars. Discussion Principles of ethical practice in self driven cars The primary question in this context is whether the ethical frameworks influence the acceptance of the autonomous cars, especially when unavoidable accidents posing risks to life are being considered. In this case the several issues that can be considered are whether
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4ETHICAL DECISIONS IN SELF DRIVEN CARS people can build their trust on the self-driven cars, if the technology can be better in taking decisions compared to its human counterparts or whether the driver should be given the control in case the cars faces critical situations. A primary issue that remains unresolved is that whether the autonomous cars are efficient in taking decisions and which entity is liable for this. These questions related to the technology are still not answered and the associated ethical issues are complicated when considering the fact that autonomous cars might act as a moral proxy with regard to its human users. As per the research done byBonnefon, Shariff, and Rahwan(2016), the ethical and the social dilemmas that are associated to these cars are of concern and the concern lies in the fact that what part of the responsibility can be shared in between the humans and the machines. Based on the technology involved in these cars there are numerous factors which act as a primary role with regard to the concept of the self-driven cars among people. The question which is of major concern is about the ethical expectations. As per the research done byGogoll and Müller(2017), utilitarianism is what is being expected from the machines and it is the simple value of life models approximating the decisions taken by the humans. The question that arises is that whether all the autonomous cars inculcate the utilitarian ethics and in an unavoidable situation stick to a strategy that harms the least. The decision taken at that point should be addressed to whom: the passengers in the self driven cars or the pedestrians are also an important question. As per the research done by Lin (2016),there needs to some mandatory ethics setting in the cars running on this technology instead of individual ethics with respect to the manufacturing companies as the self-driven cars are being considered to be a part of the society in future. The ethical aspects that are related to the machines are a primary issue and in case of the self-driven cars, it is required to make an integration of the ethics in the algorithms that deal with decision making. As the dilemma of life and death is related to the self-driven cars it is a challenge to integrate ethics in the algorithms. The dilemma that is whether to kill the passengers or the pedestrians
5ETHICAL DECISIONS IN SELF DRIVEN CARS has a significant impact on the overall acceptance of the autonomous cars. As per the research done by Maurer et al. (2016), public might accept the utilitarian autonomous cars but prefer buying cars that are human driven owing to the risks associated and the ethical dilemma. A moreorganizedviewthatisenabletorecognizetheinbuiltsystemsandassociated relationships needs to address the ethical concerns. As per the research doneMcBride(2016), the ethical aspects pertaining to the trust, privacy and security issues in autonomous cars are a complex part of this technology. The security and the privacy aspects have a direct effect on the cars’ operation and the infrastructure that supports thus malicious manipulation could in some cases go against the cars’ decision process and ethics (Etzioni and Etzioni 2017). This may lead to a difference in the behavior of the self-driven car from the original ethics it had been programmed with. Basic problem solving and decision making part of self-driven cars Developing autonomous cars which are driverless refers to substitute a human performing the complicated task of driving, with a computerized system that is capable of executing the same. There is a difference in both the scenarios above when the feedback loop is considered. While humans learn from their own mistakes, in the latter case the automotive software might be affected by the slow updates. As per the research done by Koopman and Wagner(2016), the approacheswith theself-adaptivesoftware,for examplemachine learning approaches that are effective in providing immediate responses, target to overcome the above said constraint. The extraordinary traffic signs such as, newly developed signs that the cars’ software is not acquainted with poses a risk as it will be passed uninterrupted while in case of a human driver it could have been understood through interpretation (Salem et al. 2015). The process of decision making in the self-driven cars can be implemented in the following method. The initial step is to be well aware of the environment that is detecting the obstacles for example buildings, humans or animals at the same time the present context of
6ETHICAL DECISIONS IN SELF DRIVEN CARS the autonomous car making use of the external systems such as the street signs, GPS, maps and many more or the information that is locally available such as speed and direction. In order to collect the essential informations, different sensors need to be used as detailed information about the obstacles around could help take decisions necessary to avoid these obstacles so that damage caused can be minimized (Jo et al. 2015). The software on which the self-driven cars run calculate the solutions and the solution that has optimal outcome is chosen by the computerized system. The autonomous car executes the optimal solution and this process repeats itself. Complexities in the decision making process of self-driven cars The sensors used in order to detect the objects around that are around the self-driven cars differs based on the manufacturers. The software involved in controlling the operations of the car plays the major function in decision making. In case of these cars the software is dependent on distinct disciplines for example parallel computing, machine learning and computer vision along with some of the external services (Song, Xiong and Chen 2016). In order to calculate a decision a complex process is followed and testing of these in case of real world situations is difficult. As per the research done by Schwarting, Alonso-Mora and Rus (2018), the basic problem is that the calculations are done relying on the abstraction of real world that approximately represents the situations of the real world. Regulatory Obligations of self-driven cars related to IT environment Regulation refers to the act of enactment of certain binding rule by the public authority.Agovernmentwantingtoregulateself-drivencarsneedstoexaminethe obligations to the IT environment and can make modifications on the existing laws so that its application is clarified related to the autonomous cars (Estl 2015). It could find out the regulatory functions in the manufacturing agencies meant to perform the same. With respect
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7ETHICAL DECISIONS IN SELF DRIVEN CARS to the IT environment government can promulgate a significant package of standalone regulations that exclusively deal with the self-driven cars. It could certainly give the authority so that these rules are implemented to a majorly limited group of existing agencies. The government coulddifferentiatebetweenthe automatedand the non-automatedcarsin accordance with specific obligations, liabilities and rules. A general approach is more appropriate in automated cars as these are becoming more widespread. The main concern with the self-driven cars is that it gives rise to ethical issues that relate to privacy and security. As per research done by Barabas et al. (2017), the software on which the self-driven car is based tracks the passengers and in this growing era of information technology, this makes the passengers vulnerable to hackers. For example the self-driven cars suggest exploring the coffee shops or the retail stores on the way to office based on your location along with the time that an individual spends outdoors. This could probably be used by a cyber criminal against an individual and thus there is need of obligatory regulations to be presentrelatingtotheITenvironment.ThetwomajorriskswithrespecttotheIT environment are as follows: By keeping a track of location, the self-driven cars can serve as a vital source of data to the cyber criminals. Providing the convenience of accepting the first choice of the car can aid the marketers in using an individual’s personal data for the purpose of precise marketing. While the governments have started taking steps in order to make legislation that would concern the self-driving cars but these seem to be ineffective when the privacy issues is considered. The self-driven car manufacturing companies should have a certain plan to keep the users’ data private and secure and in addition to this the users must be aware of how their data is being used by the companies. As per the research done byWeiss and Archick(2016), on 14 April 2016 the Declaration of Amsterdam was endorsed by the EU member states that
8ETHICAL DECISIONS IN SELF DRIVEN CARS related to the legislation frameworks, cross-border testing, usage of data, and exchange of knowledge in the sphere of this emerging technology. It is preparing the European framework for the purpose of implementation of the interoperable connected and the automated vehicles in the year 2019. Conclusion In days to come this technology is going to take a strong position in the market of automobiles. The self-driven cars will be an effective way to replace the human counterparts andtakedecisionsquickandfastonthebasisofthesituationencountered.These computerized software that operates the cars have an ethical dimension and have a significant impact on the acceptance of the autonomous cars. As per the discussions made above it can be concluded that there is a need to investigate more on the ethical decisions of the software inculcated in the self-driven cars. The practical technological solutions must be focused on with respect to the autonomous cars and the associated social consequences considered. Recommendations Investigations need to be done on the ethical aspects of the self-driven car software. Decision making in the self-driven cars need to be nearer to perfection as it deals with life and death. Regulations to be made strict in order to safeguard the privacy and security of the users’ data.
9ETHICAL DECISIONS IN SELF DRIVEN CARS References Hars, A., 2015. Self-driving cars: The digital transformation of mobility. InMarktplätze im Umbruch(pp. 539-549). Springer Vieweg, Berlin, Heidelberg. Barabás, I., Todoruţ, A., Cordoş, N. and Molea, A., 2017, October. Current challenges in autonomous driving. InIOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering(Vol. 252, No. 1, p. 012096). IOP Publishing. Bonnefon, J.F., Shariff, A. and Rahwan, I., 2016. The social dilemma of autonomous vehicles.Science,352(6293), pp.1573-1576. Gogoll,J. and Müller,J.F., 2017. Autonomouscars: in favor of a mandatoryethics setting.Science and engineering ethics,23(3), pp.681-700. Lin, P., 2016. Why ethics matters for autonomous cars. InAutonomous driving(pp. 69-85). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. Maurer, M., Gerdes, J.C., Lenz, B. and Winner, H., 2016. Autonomous driving.Berlin, Germany: Springer Berlin Heidelberg,10, pp.978-3. McBride,N.,2016.Theethicsofdriverlesscars.ACMSIGCASComputersand Society,45(3), pp.179-184. Koopman, P. and Wagner, M., 2017. Autonomous vehicle safety: An interdisciplinary challenge.IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Magazine,9(1), pp.90-96. Jo, K., Kim, J., Kim, D., Jang, C. and Sunwoo, M., 2015. Development of autonomous car— Part II: A case study on the implementation of an autonomous driving system based on distributed architecture.IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics,62(8), pp.5119-5132.
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10ETHICAL DECISIONS IN SELF DRIVEN CARS Song, W., Xiong, G. and Chen, H., 2016. Intention-aware autonomous driving decision- making in an uncontrolled intersection.Mathematical Problems in Engineering,2016. Schwarting, W., Alonso-Mora, J. and Rus, D., 2018. Planning and decision-making for autonomous vehicles.Annual Review of Control, Robotics, and Autonomous Systems,1, pp.187-210. Estl,H.,2015.Pavingthewaytoself-drivingcarswithadvanceddriverassistance systems.Worldwide Systems Marketing for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), Texas Instruments. Barabás, I., Todoruţ, A., Cordoş, N. and Molea, A., 2017, October. Current challenges in autonomous driving. InIOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering(Vol. 252, No. 1, p. 012096). IOP Publishing. Weiss, M.A. and Archick, K., 2016. US-EU data privacy: from safe harbor to privacy shield. Etzioni, A. and Etzioni, O., 2017. Incorporating ethics into artificial intelligence.The Journal of Ethics,21(4), pp.403-418. Salem, M., Lakatos, G., Amirabdollahian, F. and Dautenhahn, K., 2015, October. Towards safe and trustworthy social robots: ethical challenges and practical issues. InInternational Conference on Social Robotics(pp. 584-593). Springer, Cham.