Ethical Considerations for a Decision Making System for Autonomous Vehicles During an Inevitable Collision

Millan-Blanquel, Lalis; Veres, Sándor M.; Purshouse, Robin C.

doi:10.1109/med48518.2020.9183263

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Direct application of ethical principles in the control of autonomous vehicles can be found in [73]. In that proposal the passenger has the capability to select ethical principles, i.e., intervention possibility by the autonomous system.…”

Section: Control-oriented Ethical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coordinated Control Design for Ethical Maneuvering of Autonomous Vehicles

Németh

2023

Energies

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This paper proposes a coordinated control design method, with which the autonomous vehicle is able to perform ethical maneuvers. The starting point of the provided method is a thorough analysis on the ethical concepts for autonomous vehicle control design methods. Using the results of the analysis, an own concept is provided based on some principles of Protestant ethics. The concept focuses on improving trust in vehicle control through clear rules and predictable vehicle motion, and it is in line with the state-of-the-art ethical vehicle control methods. Moreover, an optimal Model Predictive Control (MPC) design method is formed, in which the provided ethical concept is incorporated. The outputs of the optimal control are steering angle and velocity profile, with which the ethical maneuvering can be achieved. The contribution of the paper is a coordinated control design method, which is able to involve ethical principles. Moreover, the application of Protestant ethics in this context is also a novel achievement in the paper. The effectiveness of the method through different simulation scenarios is illustrated.

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Section: Control-oriented Ethical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coordinated Control Design for Ethical Maneuvering of Autonomous Vehicles

Németh

2023

Energies

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“…An example of a system of this kind is laid out in [15] which considers the case of an Unmanned Aircraft which may chose to ignore the Rules of the Air as laid out by the UK Civil Aviation Authority, if doing so will save lives. The work in [26] adapts this system to AVs. Although this latter work does not explicitly include legal concerns in its implementation, it does consider the relationship of ethical reasoning to legal reasoning in the autonomous vehicle context as part of its wider discussion.…”

Section: Relationship To Ethical Reasoningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advising Autonomous Cars about the Rules of the Road

Collenette

Dennis

Fisher

2022

Electron. Proc. Theor. Comput. Sci.

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This paper describes (R)ules (o)f (T)he (R)oad (A)dvisor, an agent that provides recommended and possible actions to be generated from a set of human-level rules. We describe the architecture and design of RoTRA, both formally and with an example. Specifically, we use RoTRA to formalise and implement the UK "Rules of the Road", and describe how this can be incorporated into autonomous cars such that they can reason internally about obeying the rules of the road. In addition, the possible actions generated are annotated to indicate whether the rules state that the action must be taken or that they only recommend that the action should be taken, as per the UK Highway Code (Rules of The Road). The benefits of utilising this system include being able to adapt to different regulations in different jurisdictions; allowing clear traceability from rules to behaviour, and providing an external automated accountability mechanism that can check whether the rules were obeyed in some given situation. A simulation of an autonomous car shows, via a concrete example, how trust can be built by putting the autonomous vehicle through a number of scenarios which test the car's ability to obey the rules of the road. Autonomous cars that incorporate this system are able to ensure that they are obeying the rules of the road and external (legal or regulatory) bodies can verify that this is the case, without the vehicle or its manufacturer having to expose their source code or make their working transparent, thus allowing greater trust between car companies, jurisdictions, and the general public.

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“…Psychological egoism is the idea that individuals, by nature, are inherently self-interested and that all of their actions are ultimately motivated by self-interest; while normative egoism, on the other hand, is a prescriptive ethical theory. It asserts that individuals ought to act in their self-interest, making self-interest a moral obligation or principle ( Millán-Blanquel et al, 2020 ). However, the ambiguity surrounding this concept does not preclude its consideration as a viable algorithmic approach.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring moral algorithm preferences in autonomous vehicle dilemmas: an empirical study

Sui

2023

Front. Psychol.

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IntroductionThis study delves into the ethical dimensions surrounding autonomous vehicles (AVs), with a specific focus on decision-making algorithms. Termed the “Trolley problem,” an ethical quandary arises, necessitating the formulation of moral algorithms grounded in ethical principles. To address this issue, an online survey was conducted with 460 participants in China, comprising 237 females and 223 males, spanning ages 18 to 70.MethodsAdapted from Joshua Greene’s trolley dilemma survey, our study employed Yes/No options to probe participants’ choices and Likert scales to gauge moral acceptance. The primary objective was to assess participants’ inclinations toward four distinct algorithmic strategies—Utilitarianism, Rawlsianism, Egoism, and a Hybrid approach—in scenarios involving AVsResultsOur findings revealed a significant disparity between participants’ preferences in scenarios related to AV design and those focused on purchase decisions. Notably, over half of the respondents expressed reluctance to purchase AVs equipped with an “egoism” algorithm, which prioritizes the car owner’s safety. Intriguingly, the rejection rate for “egoism” was similar to that of “utilitarianism,” which may necessitate self-sacrifice.DiscussionThe hybrid approach, integrating “Utilitarianism” and “Egoism,” garnered the highest endorsement. This highlights the importance of balancing self-sacrifice and harm minimization in AV moral algorithms. The study’s insights are crucial for ethically and practically advancing AV technology in the continually evolving realm of autonomous vehicles.

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Ethical Considerations for a Decision Making System for Autonomous Vehicles During an Inevitable Collision

Abstract: This is a repository copy of Ethical considerations for a decision making system for autonomous vehicles during an inevitable collision.

Cited by 5 publications

References 27 publications

Coordinated Control Design for Ethical Maneuvering of Autonomous Vehicles

Coordinated Control Design for Ethical Maneuvering of Autonomous Vehicles

Advising Autonomous Cars about the Rules of the Road

Exploring moral algorithm preferences in autonomous vehicle dilemmas: an empirical study

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