Setting The Record Straight About The Trolley Problem and Self-Driving Cars

Dr. Lance Eliot, AI Insider

[Ed. Note: For reader’s interested in Dr. Eliot’s ongoing business analyses about the advent of self-driving cars, see his online Forbes column: https://forbes.com/sites/lanceeliot/]

Have you ever heard about the Trolley Problem?

It is a classic topic taught in classes about ethics and ethical dilemmas.

Turns out that the Trolley Problem is also considered one of the most controversial and outright fist-fighting topics in the field of AI autonomous self-driving cars.

If you mention the Trolley Problem to any industry insider, you’ll likely get one of two reactions. One response is by those that consider themselves as in-the-know gurus and will immediately discount the Trolley Problem as being entirely hypothetical and obtuse, looking at you askance as though you have naively fallen for some kind of scam or trickery. Others might concede reluctantly that it is an interesting topic for discussion, perhaps even worth seriously pondering, but otherwise not especially relevant to any day-to-day practical matters involving self-driving cars.

I’d like to see if we can give the matter its serious consideration and proper due.