• Moral and Ethical Implications
o Will this be safe to have on the road
Will the computers on board be able to handle extreme circumstances
• Hazardous conditions
o Extreme snow
o Extreme rain
o Quick reaction time in accidents
What is a acceptable failure rate for the driving ability
• What is the current accident rate of people driving cars
• What would be the acceptable rate for the driverless car
o Will this take jobs away from people VS. how many jobs will this create
Taxi and limo drivers
How much service will these cars need
• Will it be cost efficient to the consumer
• Will this create another specialty field
o Is it right to allow a computer to have control over a person's life like this
This is the basic outline that I need to work off of. The project is on Google's Driverless Car and the moral and ethical implications that can/will occur when it is introduced into society. Here is a brief paragraph describing what to look for:
Moral and Ethical Considerations: Consider quality of life, human rights, codes of ethics, privacy, accountability, corporate responsibility government responsibility, individual responsibility (e.g., ways of dying and rights of dying). What ethical values are expressed implicitly or explicitly by this technology? Pride (being the first-to-get-to-the moon kind of thing)? Greed? Power? Fraud? Theft? Deception? Lies? Whose rights are violated? Whose rights are honored? Consumer rights? The rights of the general public? Freedom? Authority? Control? What are the major moral concerns associated with the creation and adoption of this technology? Remember the e-Waste example in the reading I gave you-the disposal of dangerous toxins in "poorer" countries, the not-in-my-backyard phenomenon. What do religious groups have to say (this group thing may fit better in the sociology section)? For example, contraceptives generally prevent pregnancy but for some this technology violates what they call "natural law" and their religious belief in God's command to "be fruitful and multiply." Look at corporate code of ethics, professional codes of ethics (IEEE, etc.) available through websites such as Illinois Institute of Technology's and Case Western Reserve University's (compilation) or ethicsonline.org. Look at the companies developing the technology and check out their "codes of ethics" to determine whether the technology they are developing is in keeping with their mission and values. Who is responsible if something goes wrong or if critical information is withheld from the public? Example: asbestos and cigarettes
Apply ethical theory on your own-utilitarianism, act utilitarianism, rule utilitarianism, Kant's categorical imperative, ethic of care, deontology, teleology, ethical egoism, absolutism, Fletcher's situation ethics, ethical relativism, etc. Consider an encyclopedia of ethics for terms and applicable concepts. Check out the reading in our textbook on morality and technology.