Shots
Well-Known Member
Yes, there was a crash where an automated vehicle struck a pedestrian, but it did exactly what it was programmed to do. It applied braking and did not swerve.Just going by memory here since I don't have a lot of time ... a couple years ago there was an accident in Arizona involving a self driving vehicle (SDV) and a pedestrian. The pedestrian lost, even though she stepped immediately in front of the SDV, the car did have time to conclude it's calculations and choose a path. It was destined to hit the pedestrian, even though it applied all of the braking force it could muster.
According to Asimov's laws, the only law in question, in this case, is the first one " A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. ". The caveat being that in this case the SDV's prime motivator was its own occupants.
Back to the story. The SDV had made its calculations, and had elected to impact the pedestrian instead of maneuvering to avoid it as it is quite capable of doing. The reasons are simple...
1) The pedestrian in front of it was an object, not a human. SDVs and their computers cannot make that distinction ... yet.
2) In the oncoming lane was a bigger object. A class 8 truck travelling at speed (that means the speed limit, not speeding).
The algorithm simply said "In this unavoidable situation, in which we are going to hit something, chose the path of least resistance that is likely to cause the least damage to your occupants.".
As I mentioned, an autonomous vehicle will not swerve to avoid a collision. Yes it is physically capable of doing it, but there are no autonomous vehicle (*that I know of) which will swerve to avoid a collision. The car in question didn't analyze the area and "elect" to take the "path of least resistance". All it did was detect an object ahead of it an apply braking.
It doesn't matter if a semi is in the other lane, or if it's driving in a wide open parking lot with nothing around it. Current autonomous vehicles will not swerve regardless of what's around it. Will that change in the future? Maybe, but none do it now.
Regarding Asimov's laws. That is a work of fiction. They were published in a sci-fi novel written by Asimov, and made popular by the movie I-Robot (with Will Smith). IIRC the movie was based on the novel. Anyway Asimov's laws aren't actually any sort of guideline or standard, and are not programmed into autonomous vehicles. They're fictional rules set to create a conflict in a story.
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