Some dilemmas facing autonomous cars will be unavoidable, requiring that we imbue them with our morality. Because morals and ethics shift over time and geography, self-driving cars will be designed to adopt the ethics of their context. These ethics will not be in the hands of OEMs or insurance companies. Rather, they will be determined by and therefor represent the populace. When moving across borders, an autonomous car will adorn itself with the according laws and ethics and articulate this change to its passengers. In the avoidable dilemma, some populations may prioritize pedestrians whiles others will prioritize the well-being women and children while others opt to leave it to a random number.
The citizen-determination of ethical programming at scale will be a critical piece of a larger AI strategy.
Expect these moral codes to be duly contentious, given shorthand names, and common parlance—similar to policy shorthand such as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, The Paris Agreement, No Child Left Behind, and so on. This citizen-determination of ethical programming at scale will be a critical piece of a larger strategy in an AI future. Otherwise, society will risk a dystopian future in which there are two classes of people: the one controlling the algorithms and the other, subjected to algorithm.
Concept No. 2
Pedestrian-Centered Infrastructure