Paper 6 - Autonomous Passenger Cars

Background

Technological continues to play an important role in many aspects of society, allowing computer control of many things that were once only operated manually. One such area is transportation, where autonomous vehicles (cars, trucks, drones, etc) are being developed by many companies all over the world.

Assignment

Write a 750-1000 word paper discussing this issue. What are the positives of autonomous passenger vehicles? What are the negatives of autonomous passenger vehicles? What are the major ethical issues of autonomous passenger vehicles? Imagine you are in the market for a car and you can choose to purchase a fully autonomous vehicle (no manual control) or a fully manual car (no computer-assisted driving) for the exact same price. Which vehicle do you choose? Explain your decision.

Base your paper on our class discussions, material in our text, and the resources below. Additional references can be used and should be appropriately cited.

Grading Rubric

Deliverables

Email me a copy of your paper as a PDF.

References

• Section 2.7.1 of Ethics of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
• The social dilemma of autonomous vehicles
• The folly of trolleys: Ethical challenges and autonomous vehicles by Heather M. Roff, Brookings Institute, December 17, 2018.
• Should Self-Driving Cars Have Ethics? by Laurel Wamsley, NPR, October 26, 2018.
• In the Age of AI PBS Frontline, December 2, 2019.