Technology Needs Our Opinion: Why You Should Voice Yours Now
The other day was Back to the Future Day, the day Marty McFly traveled to the future with Doc Brown to save his children and the town of Hill Valley. On this day, October 21, many of us looked back on technological development and how our environment is today compared to how it was imagined in 1989. Now, though, it’s time to start looking toward the future again.
The other day I read an interesting article on an ethical dilemma of automated technology. The question is, in the event of an unavoidable accident, should a self-driving vehicle conform to a utilitarian decision-making process to try to minimize loss of life? Or should the vehicle protect its occupants no matter the cost?
If you’re scratching your head, you probably understand the depth of this dilemma. In one instance, the vehicle may be programmed to avoid a large group of people crossing the road, thereby putting the vehicle’s occupants at risk. In another, the vehicle will use its best judgement to keep the occupants safe, thereby placing individuals crossing the road at risk. While the context of the question is new, the question itself has survived the test of time.
We build technology to integrate into our lives. We ogle over gadgets that enhance our environment, make us healthier, and connect us to those around us. However, with complete automation in the not so distant future, it’s time to start having these discussions about automated decision-making. It’s time to start re-engaging in dialogue about what we consider right and wrong in the context of our rapidly changing environment, because avoiding this question is not an answer I’m willing to settle for.
I fear that because we have to make a decision to program our technology a certain way that we will become too frightened of the technology itself.
Let me tell you, this is a negligent choice because data is already available to suggest that our automated lifestyle is safer than the alternative. However, before we can trust our computers to make decisions for us, we have to make decisions for them.
Right now, there is no right answer, but the worst thing we can do is ignore the question entirely and act as if we aren’t aware of it. We will either end up giving up the extraordinary benefits of advanced technology, or, more likely, we will face catastrophic consequences for ignoring the question early in development.
Do our children a favor and voice your opinion.
In an effort to avoid hypocrisy, I’d like to post my opinion and some things I would like to see automated technology work towards. Stay tuned and follow the Urban Digital publication to see my opinion in real-time. Follow me on Twitter @iammaxbraun and tweet at me your opinion. Tell me if you agree with me. Tell me if you don’t. More important, tell me why you feel this way. Let’s get this discussion started.
