Automated Cars
Sarah Kahsay
IT 104- 007
Prof. Kamaljeet Sanghera
George Mason University
"By placing this statement on my webpage, I certify that I have read and understand the GMU Honor Code on https://oai.gmu.edu/mason-honor-code/ and as stated, I as student member of the George Mason University community pledge not to cheat, plagiarize, steal, or lie in matters related to academic work. In addition, I have received permission from the copyright holder for any copyrighted material that is displayed on my site. This includes quoting extensive amounts of text, any material copied directly from a web page and graphics/pictures that are copyrighted. This project or subject material has not been used in another class by me or any other student. Finally, I certify that this site is not for commercial purposes, which is a violation of the George Mason Responsible Use of Computing (RUC) Policy posted on http://copyright.gmu.edu/?page_id=301 web site."
Introduction
We had cruise control for years now, but now humans can take a break from cars with a completely autonomous car. According to the Union of Concerned Scientist, “a self-driving car is a car or truck in which a human never has to take control to safely operate the vehicle”( 2018.) Technological advancements are occurring faster and even better currently. This technological advancement, the automated car, brings many benefits to society, however it raises concern in legal, ethical, and societal factors leading to controversial oppositions with a fully autonomous car.
Potential Benefits
With self-driving cars there are multiple projected potential benefits for society. For instance, if you had a long day at work, and you feel too drained to drive, an automated cars would be a great aid for a situation like this. What if you are not able to drive? The disabled and the elderly will benefit exponentially as their inability to drive by themselves will not prohibit them from traveling. This would remove the inconvenience of others relying on humans drivers to transport from place to place decreasing passengers ability of drivers discunity. This means passengers of the automated car could have time for other leisure activities while on board( Thomoponous and Giovani.) This allows the traveler of the autonomous cars the ability to better utilize their time while in an automobile. An automated car will be of convenience for a person traveling especially for longer car rides.
Furthermore, an increase in safety will also be a benefit for the technological advancement. According to Nikolas Thomopoulos and Moshe Givoni, automated cars will be safee “ due to reduced human intervention and also increased personal safety due to the option to monitor one’s journey through GPS and connected devices” (2015). Without the worry of humans controlling the car, it is said to be a decrease in car accidents making it far less dangerous than a human controlling a cars. The amount of motor vehicle fatality rate will decrease due automated cars ability to monitor the roads better than a human. Later we will revisit how this idea is facing backlash due to the state of current security on a self-driving car.
Additionally autonomous car companies such as uber and lyft as well as users of the mobility services are projected to save a large sum of money. The cars will be able to generate themselves without the assistant of a human, meaning companies will not have to pay for drivers which leads to companies saving money in the distant future. According to Sarah Sjolin (2018), a Markets Reporter, automated cars also are said to be more energy efficient and low on carbon as a fraction of the automated cars will be said to be electrical. The companies will be low emission cars causing a more eco-friendly environment while saving money on oil. This is likely to cause a domino effect since companies are saving money the customers of car companies such as uber and lyft are likely to save money as well. These new changes to the transportation services are estimated to reduce the service of about 50% ( Sjolin, 2018.) This means that as automated cars continue to come into society, users of mobility services as well as the companies of the mobility services will save money.
Legal, ethical, and social issues
There are multiple legal, ethical and social issues associated with automated cars. For example, if a car accident were to occur with an automated car who would take responsibility? Is the person in the car to blame, the car companies, etc? On March 18nd 2018, a pedestrian in Arizona was struck by a uber self- driving car( Bomey, 2018). The car was on autonomous mode but there was a vehicle operator at the time. Who is legally at fault in this case? Would it be the car operator, the ride-sharing driving company, or the car company? Some car companies such as tesla vouch that they will take full responsibility of crashes( Nylohm, 2018), however, there are also car companies who have not made these claims. Should the transportation service, Uber in this case, get full responsibility for this death? Automated cars must acknowledge who will take legal responsibility in scenarios such as this incident. They must have an human like brain to understand whether or not to hit a group of pedestrians or swerve off the road into a pole. They must have the ability to make important life and death decisions when need be( Nylohm, 2018). Was it correct for the car to hit and kill the pedestrian instead of swerving onto the road? This is considered to be an rare scenario with an automated car but it occurred just this past March. It is evident self-driving cars will have multiple benefits but we must address these ethical and legal issues first when it comes to autonomous cars.
Along with ethical and legal issues, there are also social issues that occur with automated cars. Now that cars will drive themselves what will happen to taxi drivers, uber drivers, and other drivers for car companies? Numerous people will lose their jobs due to these robots( Union of Concerned Scientists, 2018). As technology advances, robots are replacing humans jobs. This was seen in factories and will now be slowly incorporated onto the roads. In addition to drivers losing their jobs, autonomous cars will lead to social exclusions for those who may not be able to afford the cars. Autonomous cars will not be highly accessible for the lower income groups. The wealthy will only able to afford the automated cars while the lower income groups will be outcasted. This will slowly lead to a social divide between the wealthy and the poor. These social issues that will occur because of autonomous cars. We must consider that with time society will change as a whole with the technological advancement of an automated car.
Security concerns
A huge security concern with technology is constantly hacking. With self-driving cars now the risk of hacking has increased enormously. Technology has always had an concern with hacking whether it was a computer or a phone but if an hacker were to break into an autonomous cars it is far more dangerous than a computer or a phone. The hacker may have access to the brakes or any part of the car leading to an increase in accidents and deaths(“Privacy concerns and self-driving cars: Are we ready for autonomous vehicles?,” 2018). Although a self- driving car is predicted to be far more safe than a human operated car, we must consider and find a solution to hackers of automated cars. If we do not find an solution to car hackers, automated cars could be more dangerous than predicted. This seems to be one of the biggest concerns of autonomous cars. The level of safety for driving autonomous car will be the same if not worse than a human piloting a car because of cyber security issues.
Future use and research
“In about a decade self-driving cars will be as common as elevators, ” said Ellon Musk, the founder of Tesla.( Musk, 2018.) Self-driving cars are coming into the world slowly but within the next years there will be a increase of the amount of automated cars on the roads. It will normalized to see humans on their devices or performing in other activities while in the driver's seat. As of right now there needs to be a human on the driver's seat in the case of an emergency were the driver must take control of the car in almost all automated cars, but in the near future this will not be the case. It will take some adjusting for the world to adapt to self-driving cars as society will change as a whole but first self- driving car companies must consider and address the legal, social, ethical, as well as social concerns. Without addressing these issues there will be many potential consequences to everyone in society. The car companies must make their autonomous car more secure so hacking is not an issue and to ensure less accidents and deaths. A second solution they must address is the laws or policies must be put in place to know who will take responsibility of a death or accident were to occur from a self- driving car. Lastly, we must understand and consider how society will change from this technological advancement. The impact a automated car will have on the wealthy and the poor, the healthy and the disabled. These are all important questions that must be answered for the future use of the autonomous cars. Before autonomous cars are out on the streets, there must be answers to these concerns.
Conclusion
Self- driving cars have numerous benefits for the consumers as well as the producers, however the car companies must first address the issues self-driving cars will produce. There are issues with who will hold responsibility for a death caused by a self- driving car, prevention measures so an self-driving car will not get hacked, as well as how society will change and impact different socio-economic groups with an fully autonomous cars. Once these issues with self driving cars are addressed the world may be safer and more convenient to many on the road.
References
Nyholm, S. (2018). The ethics of crashes with self-driving cars: A roadmap, II. Philosophy Compass,13(7). doi:10.1111/phc3.12506
The purpose of this scholarly article is to inform the audience on ethical and legal repercussions of self-driving cars. Seven Nyholm, the author, targets the companies of the self- driving car. He discusses who it makes sense to take responsibility of accidents due to accidents. Nyholm also reminds readers that there are scenarios were automated cars can cause a life or death scenario and the automated car companies must find solutions to when an automated car will make a human like decision. This article will benefit an audience who wants to understand ethical problems for automated cars.
Thomopoulos, N., & Givoni, M. (2015). The autonomous car—a blessing or a curse for the future of low carbon mobility? An exploration of likely vs. desirable outcomes. European Journal of Futures Research, 3(1). doi:10.1007/s40309-015-0071-
The article is an scholarly article with statistics and tables that help assist their points. Thomopoulos and Givoni purpose of this scholarly article is to inform the audience on the pros and the cons of automated cars. The authors discuss benefits to travelers such as ability to participate leisure activities while on board in a vehicle or better safety on the reader. They also discuss consider cons such as social exclusion due to automated cars. This article would be a great benefit to those considering purchasing an automated car.
Zhao, J., Liang, B., & Chen, Q. (2018). The key technology toward the self-driving car. International Journal of Intelligent Unmanned Systems, 6(1), 2-20. doi:10.1108/ijius-08-2017-0008
This article is a scholarly article that has studies as well as maps and charts to assist their point. Zhao and Chen’s purpose of this scholarly article is to inform people of the technology these self-driving cars will use as well as to inform the audience on the debated of the cars. The targeted audience includes potential buyers of self driving cars. The article informs the readers on how an automated car works as well as how it will be when they are on the road.
Self-Driving Cars Explained. (2018, February 21). Retrieved February 16, 2019, from https://www.ucsusa.org/clean-vehicles/how-self-driving-cars-work#.XGiABs9Ki8U
This is a short blog post on how an automated car works. The authors informs the audience on what a self-driving car is as well as how it impacts people. The target audience for this newspaper is readers who would like to learn more about automated cars. This post also includes a small tables that shows the different types of automated cars there are. This may be beneficial to those who are unsure of what type of autonomy they would want to purchase.
Privacy concerns and self-driving cars: Are we ready for autonomous vehicles? | Thomson Reuters. (2018, February 15). Retrieved from https://blogs.thomsonreuters.com/answerson/privacy-concerns-self-driving-cars-ready-autonomous-vehicles/
This is a short article on cyber security issues that occur with automated cars. The purpose of this article is to persuade the audience that self- driving cars may not be not such a good idea yet. The author explains that self-driving cars will have security concerns with hacking which causes them to be unsafe. This article targets potential buyers of the automated cars as well as the automated cars companies who must address this security concern.
NathanBomey. (2018, May 24). Uber self-driving car crash: Vehicle detected Arizona pedestrian 6 seconds before accident. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2018/05/24/uber-self-driving-car-crash-ntsb-investigation/640123002/
This is a short newspaper article published by USA today written by Nathan Bomey. It discusses a death that occured from an automated car. The purpose of this article is to convince readers that automated car has issues that must be resolved first. It’s targeted audience is broad consisting of everyday drivers and pedestrians, but also those who may use a self driving car service. This article includes a video of the place where the incident occurs as well as photos of the automated car.
Campanella, E. (2018, July 14). The future of self-driving cars explained. Retrieved from
https://globalnews.ca/news/4323280/the-future-of-self-driving-cars-explained/
This is a short news article, published by Global News written by Emanuela Campanella. It discusses how self-driving cars future is looking. The purpose of the article is to predict how automated cars will work in the future. It’s targeted audience is everyday people of society to show how they may be affected by automated cars. The article also includes a video that explain how automated cars work.
