The experience of ethics: Evaluation of self harm risks in automated vehicles | IEEE Conference Publication | IEEE Xplore

The experience of ethics: Evaluation of self harm risks in automated vehicles


Abstract:

Automated vehicles, but also safety or driver assistance systems for manually driven cars, will soon face situations where they have to choose between several options wit...Show More

Abstract:

Automated vehicles, but also safety or driver assistance systems for manually driven cars, will soon face situations where they have to choose between several options with negative or even lethal outcome for the one or the other party. Experimental ethics is an approach to evaluate expectations humans put into the morality of digital agents. With this work we present a personalized abstraction of the “Trolley Problem” evaluated in a driving simulator. The aim of the study was to assess drivers' individual attitudes in ethical decisions and derive common knowledge about how to solve such situations. In contrast to previous work, the study at hand looks at the problem from a holistic point of view, including uncertainty and accident risk (presented to subjects as their probability to survive). Furthermore, subjective scales and semi-structured interviews to determine subjects' justifications for ethical decisions complemented the setting. Our results (n=40) suggest that most drivers want their vehicles to act in an utilitarian way and opt for the more severe collision — even when their own probability to survive is substantially low. In addition, age and size of the injured party have a significant effect on the results. Qualitative data (interviews) indicate that the justification, in particular for decisions with the same outcome, strongly differs as most people have embodied their own moral concepts.
Date of Conference: 11-14 June 2017
Date Added to IEEE Xplore: 31 July 2017
ISBN Information:
Conference Location: Los Angeles, CA, USA

References

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