Krügel Sebastian, Uhl Matthias
Faculty of Computer Science, Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt, Esplanade 10, 85049, Ingolstadt, Germany.
TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology, Technical University of Munich, Richard-Wagner-Str. 1, 80333, Munich, Germany.
Sci Rep. 2024 Jan 10;14(1):960. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-51313-2.
How would people distribute risks of autonomous vehicles (AVs) in everyday road traffic? The rich literature on the ethics of autonomous vehicles (AVs) revolves around moral judgments in unavoidable collision scenarios. We argue for extending the debate to driving behaviors in everyday road traffic where ubiquitous ethical questions arise due to the permanent redistribution of risk among road users. This distribution of risks raises ethically relevant questions that cannot be evaded by simple heuristics such as "hitting the brakes." Using an interactive, graphical representation of different traffic situations, we measured participants' preferences on driving maneuvers of AVs in a representative survey in Germany. Our participants' preferences deviated significantly from mere collision avoidance. Interestingly, our participants were willing to take risks themselves for the benefit of other road users, suggesting that the social dilemma of AVs may be mitigated in risky environments. Our research might build a bridge between engineers and philosophers to discuss the ethics of AVs more constructively.
在日常道路交通中，人们会如何分配自动驾驶汽车（AVs）的风险呢？关于自动驾驶汽车伦理的丰富文献都围绕着不可避免的碰撞场景中的道德判断展开。我们主张将辩论扩展到日常道路交通中的驾驶行为，在这种情况下，由于道路使用者之间风险的持续重新分配，会出现普遍存在的伦理问题。这种风险分配引发了一些伦理相关问题，而诸如“踩刹车”这样的简单启发式方法无法回避这些问题。通过对不同交通情况进行交互式图形展示，我们在德国的一项代表性调查中测量了参与者对自动驾驶汽车驾驶操作的偏好。我们参与者的偏好与单纯的避免碰撞有显著偏差。有趣的是，我们的参与者愿意为了其他道路使用者的利益自己承担风险，这表明在危险环境中，自动驾驶汽车的社会困境可能会得到缓解。我们的研究可能会在工程师和哲学家之间架起一座桥梁，以便更具建设性地讨论自动驾驶汽车的伦理问题。
