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🚗 What People Forget About The Autonomous AI Trolley Problem
What is the trolley dillema?
The trolley dillema surfaces from time to time. Last time when discussing autonomous cars.
The general concept is that an AI driving an autonomous car may find itself in a nerve wrecking scenario where every solution will cause harm. The problem is what it should choose.
For example there are pedestrians on both sides of the road, and the car malfunction causes it to loose direction. AI can choose only between two options: left sidewalk or right sidewalk.
Moreover on the left sidewalk there is a Windows enthusiast, while on the right — MacOS enthusiast.
The AI has to decide what is better in this scenario.
What’s wrong with the dillema?
When I’ve heard about the problem in the context of autonomous cars immediately it felt ridiculous to consider it.
But it’s an interesting thought concept for a different reason than it feels like.
Let me explain.
Theoretically the dillema sounds like something to think about. There is even a legal process to draw out the rules for autonomous AIs. So it sounds like a serious thing. Isn’t it?
I’m a driver and never so far (I hope never) I faced a trolley dillema. I don’t know any other driver that faced the problem. And some had accidents.