Resnik David B, Andrews Suzanne L
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, 111 TW Alexander Drive, Mail Drop E1-06, PO Box 12233, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA.
Master of Science in Bioethics Student, Columbia University, 203 Lewisohn Hall, 2970 Broadway, Mail Code 4119, New York, NY 10027-6902, USA.
AI Ethics. 2024 May;4(2):403-418. doi: 10.1007/s43681-023-00277-6. Epub 2023 Mar 27.
In this article, we defend an approach to autonomous vehicle ethics and policy based on the precautionary principle. We argue that a precautionary approach is warranted, given the significant scientific and moral uncertainties related to autonomous vehicles, especially higher-level ones. While higher-level autonomous vehicles may offer many important benefits to society, they also pose significant risks, which are not fully understood at this juncture. Risk management strategies traditionally used by government officials to make decisions about new technologies cannot be applied to higher-level autonomous vehicles because these strategies require accurate and reliable probability estimates concerning the outcomes of different policy options and extensive agreement about values, which are not currently available for autonomous vehicles. Although we describe our approach as precautionary, that does not mean that we are opposed to autonomous vehicle development and deployment, because autonomous vehicles offer benefits that should be pursued. The optimal approach to managing the risks of autonomous vehicles is to take reasonable precautions; that is, to adopt policies that attempt to deal with serious risks in a responsible way without depriving society of important benefits.
在本文中，我们捍卫一种基于预防原则的自动驾驶汽车伦理与政策方法。我们认为，鉴于与自动驾驶汽车，尤其是高级别自动驾驶汽车相关的重大科学和道德不确定性，采取预防措施是有必要的。虽然高级别自动驾驶汽车可能会给社会带来许多重要益处，但它们也带来了重大风险，而目前人们对此尚未完全了解。政府官员传统上用于对新技术做出决策的风险管理策略无法应用于高级别自动驾驶汽车，因为这些策略需要对不同政策选项的结果进行准确可靠的概率估计以及对价值观达成广泛共识，而目前自动驾驶汽车尚不具备这些条件。尽管我们将我们的方法描述为预防性的，但这并不意味着我们反对自动驾驶汽车的开发和部署，因为自动驾驶汽车带来的益处值得追求。管理自动驾驶汽车风险的最佳方法是采取合理的预防措施；也就是说，采用旨在以负责任的方式应对严重风险同时又不剥夺社会重要益处的政策。
