My current event this week relates to a pretty general ethical question that many of us who are aiming for a career in software development will run into in some form or another. Specifically, it relates to the decision-making that will inevitably be programmed into varying types of gadgets in the near future. This article from MIT Technology Review looks at the dilemma that self-driving cars present when a vehicular accident is inevitable. I find myself wondering if one of the premises of the article, namely that an accident may be unavoidable, will ever truly be met, but the issue must still be addressed.
I don't know if there's a widely accepted inclination with regard to issues like programming a car to favor killing the driver over a bystander, but I would think that there are a lot of things that we could do to reduce the likelihood of such a situation ever occurring to the lowest possible level, such as making the car favor caution in a lot of situations. Of course, we then have to deal with a society where our self-driving cars are all too polite and never get anywhere, but I think that we'd rather have some inefficiency over death.
As we automate our environment more and more and endow objects around us with the measure of intelligence that is possible for us to give them, issues like this will continue to arise and I think ethics will play an increasing role in technology as technology becomes a more integral part of our existence. Food for thought.
No comments:
Post a Comment