I've just solved the ethical debate over autonomous cars

[Sad, little man]

You know how everyone says "What are we going to do about the ethics of letting a car drive for us when it gets into a situation where it has to decide between two bad outcomes?" I just figured out a solution.

We'll have two large buttons on the dash, and they will each have displays next to them. Say your car gets into a situation where its only options are to plow into a tree or bowl over a small child in the street... At that instant, the buttons will light up bright red, and one will display an image of the child while the other will display an image of the tree. You will be able to push one, and the car will run into whatever you push. If you don't push fast enough, I guess the outcome would be randomized or something.

There, ethical dilemma solved, the control is back in the hands of the driver.

[Kchrpm]

If there's enough time for the driver to see the button, assess the situation, and hit the button, there's probably enough time for the car to stop.

[MR2 Fan]

I didn't know hitting a tree was unethical

Edit: I prefer the difference between, say, hitting a pedestrian and a school bus full of children.

The next question, if we are driving that fast in a regular car, are we able to make any conclusion in that fast of a scenario anyway?

[Sad, little man]

Keith, maybe we could do something with a heads up display to quicken response times.

Again, if the driver isn't fast enough, let's randomize the outcome then. It's no different from today if you aren't fast enough to react to a situation while driving. The important part here is putting some control in the driver's hands, even if it's fleeting.

MR2, it is unethical for a car to autonomously choose to hit a tree without driver involvement, thus risking harm to the occupants.

[MR2 Fan]

Keith, maybe we could do something with a heads up display to quicken response times.

Again, if the driver isn't fast enough, let's randomize the outcome then. It's no different from today if you aren't fast enough to react to a situation while driving. The important part here is putting some control in the driver's hands, even if it's fleeting.

MR2, it is unethical for a car to autonomously choose to hit a tree without driver involvement, thus risking harm to the occupants.

Well, there's a LOOOOOT of variables here. I would really love to get into the inner workings of what Google has implemented into their cars.

I mean, how does the car know that the object its seeing is a small child, compared to a fire hydrant, or a garden gnome, whatever.

Can it judge the approximate weight of the object in the way, if it's bolted down or not, etc. the way a human can?

Edit: I know I'm not asking the same questions you are, but this is just on my mind.

[Sad, little man]

I would imagine any car capable of fully driving itself could differentiate between inanimate and moving objects, and assume that the latter are probably living things, combined with cameras that are designed to actually recognize when something looks like something it has been programmed to recognize as a living thing.

[Kchrpm]

These may provide the info you're looking for, MR2

[thesameguy]

The answer is a disintegration. If the car can't make a good decision, it disintegrates. Easy.

[overpowered]

If there's enough time for the driver to see the button, assess the situation, and hit the button, there's probably enough time for the car to stop.

This. Seriously.

I am always amazed at the people grasping at the impossible scenario when in fact, a good driver doesn't really get into the impossible scenario in the first place.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I think SLM's idea makes sense, but rather than asking occupant right before a crash, perhaps this is a question that occupants can answer in advance... in an unlikely event of a crash would you rather end up in a crash that minimize casualties (that can save more lives) or would you want the system to protect the occupants at all cost? (meaning you'll likely run over dogs/cats/pedestrians in unavoidable crashes)