Question: Automobiles now contain sophisticated AI systems to exercise control over the vehicle and respond faster than humans can.

Automobiles now contain sophisticated AI systems to exercise control over the vehicle and respond faster than humans can. For example, by using a wide set of sensors, accident-avoidance systems can apply the brakes and even change lanes to help drivers avoid accidents. In the coming years, these systems may exercise even more control of your vehicle, such as the self-driving cars that are under development by Google and major auto manufacturers.

But who controls the ethical constraints by which automated robotic machinery like this operates? Consider a selection between a set of bad choices: You suddenly find that you have to brake, knowing you will still hit the school bus ahead of you, swerve into oncoming traffic, or swerve to the other side into a tree. Which choice would you make? Which choice would you want your automated car to make? Should owners have a choice of overriding the programming in their vehicles and adjusting the ethical parameters of their robotic systems? What should manufacturers do until laws are passed regarding roboethics? Table 1.9 lists different views on the issue of robotic machinery ethics. Where do your views fall?