That save first? Dilemma autonomous car designers – Ouest-France

Prototypes of autonomous cars are tested on the roads for several years, including a model of Google, and the widespread adoption of such cars could eliminate up to 90% of traffic accidents, according to the authors of this work appeared in the journal Science.

the researchers determined that the public is generally in favor of autonomous cars to minimize the number of injuries and deaths in situations of extreme danger, based on the results of six surveys of 1,928 people in the United States.

76 % find more moral to avoid pedestrians This means for example that the software driving the car foncerait on a wall or a tree, or choosing to sacrifice the passengers to avoid a group of pedestrians. Thus 76% of respondents believe that this scenario is the most desirable morally for this type of vehicle.

At the same time, these surveys show a lack of enthusiasm among the same respondents to the idea buying autonomous cars programmed to avoid pedestrians to the detriment of passengers.

no one wants a car that sacrifices its passengers So when they were asked whether it was morally acceptable for families to travel in a car with the software would provide the occupants to sacrifice to save the lives of pedestrians, the favorable response rate has dropped by a third. A majority of respondents also reported strongly opposed to the idea that governments regulate in favor of cars without drivers programmed to maintain pedestrian safety at the expense of passengers.

In these surveys conducted online between June and November 2015, only a third of people said they probably would buy such a vehicle compared to a large majority who chose the option of an autonomous car that can be programmed according to their wishes.

own interest or public interest? “most people want to live in a world where cars would minimize to the maximum the number of dead and wounded” , falls Iyad Rahwan, assistant professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a co-author of the study.

“But at the same time, all want their own car protect at all costs “, he added, noting that the result is ” social dilemma “ where you end up creating a less safe environment for all by acting primarily for its own interest.

“This is the challenge should think automakers and regulators’ write the researchers, including Jean-Francois de Bonnefon the “Toulouse School of Economics” (TSE).

also, if autonomous cars become actually really safer than current vehicles, these ethical dilemmas “may paradoxically increase the number of victims accidents delaying the adoption of more secure technologies’ , say the authors.

“Nothing the United States, traffic accidents killed nearly 40 000 deaths and 4.5 million serious injuries in 2015 … cost nearly a trillion dollars’ , said Azim Shariff, professor of psychology at the University of Oregon, one of the co-authors of the study.