Ethics of Self-Driving Cars | Betabox Learning K12

This lesson invites students to use their debate and discussion skills to explore the ethics of self-driving car technology.

Objectives

Become more informed about the safety concerns regarding self-driving cars to draw conclusions about the risks and benefits of the technology.
Learn about the debate surrounding the environmental impacts of self-driving cars.
Understand the “Trolley Problem” thought experiment.

Start the lesson by dividing your class into small teams of 3 -5 students, depending on the size of your class. Each student should have paper and pencil to take notes.

Display this TED Ed Talk from Patrick Lin that frames the ethical debates around self-driving car technology.

Here are some sample questions you can ask the class with regard to this presentation.

Q: What was the difference between a reaction and a decision?

A: Reactions are instinctual actions without forethought, while decisions have pre-planned intent.

Q: Why will self-driving cars be judged as making “decisions” rather than merely “reactions?”

A: Because the cars behavior will likely be pre-programmed by coders.

Q: Do you think consumers would buy self-driving cars designed to keep bystanders safe, or the driver? Discuss.

Reinforce that these ‘ethics experiments’ may not truly play out with real self-driving cars but the experiments help us to hone our ethical intuitions by presenting edge cases.

Present the Lesson

“Today, we are going to be putting ourselves in the Ethical Driver’s Seat by considering arguments from different perspectives, and discussing those arguments to form our own conclusions. We will do this by listening to three audio clips of real experts in this field from a debate podcast. Ready?”

Clip #1 Discussion: Safety (9 mins)

Play this audio clip for all students to hear. Encourage students to write down the essence of the Yes and No arguments on their papers.

Discussion

Call upon a student to formulate the Yes argument and then another student to condense the No argument. Now, instruct the groups to discuss with each other which argument was stronger. Set a timer for 2-3 minutes. Pause the group discussions, and bring the class back together.

Clip #2 Discussion: Environmental Impact (10 mins)

Play this audio clip for all students to hear. Encourage students to write down the essence of the Yes and No arguments on their papers.

Discussion

Call upon a student to formulate the Yes argument, and then another student to condense the No argument. Now, instruct the groups to discuss with each other which argument was stronger. Set a timer for 2-3 minutes. Pause the group discussions, and bring the class back together.

Clip #3 Discussion: The Trolley Problem (10 mins)

Play this audio clip for all students to hear. Encourage students to write down the essence of the Yes and No arguments on their papers.

Discussion

Optional Activity (devices required)

Direct students to the Moral Machine Trolley Problem online simulator game to gain practice with making ethical choices.

🤔 Classroom Debate Topics

Present an opportunity for your students to debate other ethics topics amongst themselves. You and your students can come up with their own themes or you may use the following sample prompts:

Are self-driving cars good or bad for the environment? Explain your stance. Sample Topics: batteries, pollution, traffic, fossil fuel
Should passengers sleep in self-driving cars? Why or why not? Sample Topics: accidents, car malfunction, long trips, road hazards, software not updated
If a self-driving car is involved in an accident, who bears the burden (is at fault)? Sample Topics: passenger driver, car manufacturer, pedestrian, other drivers, no one
What challenges do you face that autonomous technology could help with? Sample Topics: smelly shoes, out of groceries, picking up dog poop, over sleeping
Are we too dependent on robots? Why or why not? Sample Topics: promotes laziness, helps day-to-day tasks, frees up time to do other things
Should there be driver-facing cameras to monitor drivers to see if they are paying attention en route? Why or why not? Sample Topics: texting while driving, sleeping, privacy invasion, insurance fraud
If self-driving cars were everywhere, this may eliminate drive-sharing (Uber) and paid parking. Is this good or bad for the economy and why? Sample Topics: fewer parking lots means more space, loss of jobs, taxes
Should the police use self-driving cars to patrol areas? Why or why not? Sample Topics: criminal activity, invasion of privacy, safety at night, more ‘eyes’ on the ground
What improvements would you like ordinary cars to have? Sample Topics: gas mileage, different horns for different scenarios, more leg room
What concerns do you have with self-driving car technology? Sample Topics: safety, cost, intelligent design, human demise by the robot overlords
Proposed self-driving cars completely eliminate the steering wheel. Is this a good or bad idea and why? Sample Topics: need for manual override, sleek design, not enough testing

📋 Wrap Up

Invite students to analyze their groups ability to generate debate. Have groups give themselves a review of how well they were able to work through disagreements.

Collect the papers that students used to write down the Yes and No stances of these ethical debates.