Wendell Wallach tells us what the basic problems are.
If a train continues on its current course, it
will kill a workcrew of five down the track.
However, a signalman is standing by a switch that
can redirect the train to another branch.
Unfortunately, a lone worker will be killed if
the train is switched to the new track. If you
were the signalman, what would you do? What
should a computer or robot capable of switching
the train to a different branch do?
You are hiding with friends and neighbors in the
cellar of a house, while outside enemy solders
search. If they find you, it is certain death for
everyone. The baby you are holding in your lap
begins to cry and won't be comforted. What do you
do? If the baby were under the care of a robot
nurse, what would you want the robot to do?
Philosophers are fond of thought experiments that
highlight different aspects of moral
decision-making. Responses to a series of
different dilemmas, each of which poses saving
several lives by deliberately taking an action
that will sacrifice one innocent life, illustrate
clearly that most people's moral intuitions do
not conform to simple utilitarian calculations.
In other words, for many situations, respondents
do not perceive that the action that will create
the greatest good for the greatest number is the
right thing to do. Most people elect to switch
the train from one track to another in order to
save five lives, even when this will sacrifice
one innocent person. However, in a different
version of this dilemma there is no switch.
Instead, you are standing on a bridge beside a
large man. You can save five lives down the track
by pushing the man to his certain death off the
bridge into the path of the onrushing train. With
this variant, only a small percentage of people
say they would push the man off the bridge.
Introducing a robot into these scenarios raises
some intriguing and perhaps disturbing
possibilities. For example, suppose that you
built a robot who's standing next to the large
man. What actions would you want the robot to
consider? Would you have programmed the robot to
push the large man off the bridge, even if you
would not take this action yourself? Of course,
the robot might come up with a different response
to achieve a similar end â for example, by
jumping off the bridge into the trainâs path: a
rather unappetizing solution for us humans.
<http://philosophynow.org/issue72/72wallach2.htm>Link
--
Posted By johannes to
<http://www.monochrom.at/english/2009/04/challenge-of-moral-machines.htm>monochrom
at 4/24/2009 05:13:00 PM
