3 ms·

Who would the car optimize for? Saving the kid or saving the driver from getting rear-ended or swerving into an object?

• Asooka 6y ago
  See kid => hit brakes. This is already way better than a driver who doesn't notice the kid and doesn't hit the brakes. The inside of the car is very well designed to keep the occupant alive in case of collision, the car should prioritise not hitting other people. I hope self-driving technology will at some point be regulated regarding what the car should attempt to do in those situations. With more vehicles having collision avoidance technology, the car behind you won't rear-end you because its AI will react fast enough while also refusing to drive dangerously close to the car in front.
  • brianwawok 6y ago
    Ok now bonus Problem. The car has to swerve and either hit a kid or an old lady, which do you hit and why?
  • scrose 6y ago
    I wouldn't have asked the question if it was that simple :) If you have no other cars around you, are traveling less than 25mph and have plenty of stopping distance, sure, 'see kid => hit brakes' should work to save everyone in that circumstance. If your assumption is that you won't get rear-ended because everyone will be using automated collision avoidance technology... Well, we're at least 15 years away from that. As someone who bikes and is used to seeing every other person on their phone while driving, fully self-driving vehicles can't come soon enough. But we need to have real discussions about who the self-driving vehicles will save in regular circumstances. I'm skeptical about them optimizing for, or even having the ability to optimize for saving people outside of the vehicle over protecting the occupants.