What Autonomous Vehicles Can Teach Us About Morality

The process of designing an autonomous vehicle reveals that technology design often reflects our larger disagreements over different ethical principles. As in other areas of our lives, the application of ethical principles becomes more complex as technology designers have to weigh desirable features that contradict each other, such as perfect vehicle safety versus affordability to consumers. However, applying ethical principles in technology opens a discussion about competing values and a consideration of the possibility of compromises and trade-offs that lead to reasonable and compassionate solutions.

David Weinberger is an author whose most recent book, the award-winning Everyday Chaos, presents a unique perspective on the rise and importance of machine learning. His work has been published in Wired and Harvard Business Review, as well as in Scientific American, The NY Times, Washington Post, and more. He has given hundreds of keynote speeches around the world, including recent talks on what ethics can learn from AI and the shift in our most ancient strategies for thriving as citizens and businesspeople.

Leading Ethically in the Age of AI and Big Data is the product of a grant to Purdue University’s College of Liberal Arts from the Lilly Endowment, Inc. Learn more about the project at https://bit.ly/LeadingEthically. A new Purdue Bachelor of Arts major in Artificial Intelligence will teach students to ask fundamental questions about intelligence and the ethical principles guiding the development of AI. Learn more at https://bit.ly/PurdueAI.