Lawrence M. Hinman, San Diego Union-Tribune; Driverless cars raise so many ethical questions. Here are just a few of them.
"Even more troubling will be the algorithms themselves, even if the engineering works flawlessly. How are we going to program autonomous vehicles when they are faced with a choice among competing evils? Should they be programmed to harm or kill the smallest number of people, swerving to avoid hitting two people but unavoidably hitting one? (This is the famous “trolley problem” that has vexed philosophers and moral psychologists for over half a century.)
Should your car be programmed to avoid crashing into a group of schoolchildren, even if that means driving you off the side of a cliff? Most of us would opt for maximizing the number of lives saved, except when one of those lives belongs to us or our loved ones.
These are questions that take us to the heart of the moral life in a technological society. They are already part of a lively and nuanced discussion among philosophers, engineers, policy makers and technologists. It is a conversation to which the larger public should be invited.
The ethics of dealing with autonomous systems will be a central issue of the coming decades."
Showing posts with label nuanced discussions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nuanced discussions. Show all posts
Saturday, March 24, 2018
Saturday, February 4, 2017
The crucial fight that the anti-Trump resistance is forgetting; Washington Post, 2/2/17
Carlos Lozada, Washington Post; The crucial fight that the anti-Trump resistance is forgetting
"In his introduction to “What We Do Now,” co-editor Dennis Johnson writes of the widespread “despair,” “grief” and “disillusionment” that followed the election. There is anger, too. “Stay OUTRAGED,” writes Linda Sarsour, executive director of the Arab American Association of New York. “Perpetual outrage is what’s going to fuel our movement right now.” There is but glancing thought given to the despair, grief, disillusionment and outrage that preceded the vote, that may have compelled people who once (or twice) supported Barack Obama to cast their lot with Trump. If the resistance is to grow beyond the already converted, if it is to engage in that second battle, it will need some of those people, too.
You know, “stronger together” and all that.
Two essays in “What We Do Now,” tucked at the end of the book, take on that challenge. Novelist Dave Eggers shares his post-election travels through Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Michigan, where he talked with voters, students and immigrants about their hopes and motivations. And Nato Thompson, artistic director at Creative Time, calls on artists to “create work that challenges the forces that brought this situation into existence and will continue operating throughout Trump’s presidency.” And to do that, you have to break out beyond those who think or feel like you do.
“The capacity to produce a more nuanced discussion that cuts across ideology, geography, and political party will be as essential as ever,” Thompson writes."
"In his introduction to “What We Do Now,” co-editor Dennis Johnson writes of the widespread “despair,” “grief” and “disillusionment” that followed the election. There is anger, too. “Stay OUTRAGED,” writes Linda Sarsour, executive director of the Arab American Association of New York. “Perpetual outrage is what’s going to fuel our movement right now.” There is but glancing thought given to the despair, grief, disillusionment and outrage that preceded the vote, that may have compelled people who once (or twice) supported Barack Obama to cast their lot with Trump. If the resistance is to grow beyond the already converted, if it is to engage in that second battle, it will need some of those people, too.
You know, “stronger together” and all that.
Two essays in “What We Do Now,” tucked at the end of the book, take on that challenge. Novelist Dave Eggers shares his post-election travels through Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Michigan, where he talked with voters, students and immigrants about their hopes and motivations. And Nato Thompson, artistic director at Creative Time, calls on artists to “create work that challenges the forces that brought this situation into existence and will continue operating throughout Trump’s presidency.” And to do that, you have to break out beyond those who think or feel like you do.
“The capacity to produce a more nuanced discussion that cuts across ideology, geography, and political party will be as essential as ever,” Thompson writes."
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