Autonomous Vehicles Require Socio-Political Acceptance — An Empirical and Philosophical Perspective on the Problem of Moral Decision Making

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Title: Autonomous Vehicles Require Socio-Political Acceptance — An Empirical and Philosophical Perspective on the Problem of Moral Decision Making
Authors: Bergmann, Lasse Tenzin
Schlicht, Larissa
Meixner, Carmen
König, Peter
Pipa, Gordon
Boshammer, Susanne
Stephan, Achim
ORCID of the author: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2078-6939
Abstract: Autonomous vehicles, though having enormous potential, face a number of challenges. As a computer system interacting with society on a large scale and human beings in particular, they will encounter situations, which requiremoral assessment. What will count as right behavior in such situations depends on which factors are considered to be both morally justified and socially acceptable. In an empirical study we investigated what factors people recognize as relevant in driving situations. The study put subjects in several “dilemma” situations, which were designed to isolate different and potentially relevant factors. Subjects showed a surprisingly high willingness to sacrifice themselves to save others, took the age of potential victims in a crash into consideration and were willing to swerve onto a sidewalk if this saved more lives. The empirical insights are intended to provide a starting point for a discussion, ultimately yielding societal agreement whereby the empirical insights should be balanced with philosophical considerations.
Citations: Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, Volume 12, Article 31, 2016, 1-12
URL: https://osnadocs.ub.uni-osnabrueck.de/handle/urn:nbn:de:gbv:700-20181122849
Subject Keywords: autonomous vehicles; experimental philosophy; moral cognition; decision making; social acceptance; trolley problems
Issue Date: 28-Feb-2018
License name: Attribution 4.0 International
License url: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Type of publication: Einzelbeitrag in einer wissenschaftlichen Zeitschrift [article]
Appears in Collections:FB08 - Hochschulschriften
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