New research has shown that self-driving cars will soon be able to make "ethical" decisions about the fate of people in traffic accidents.
The growing general trend towards self-driving vehicles has raised many questions about their ability to make "ethical" decisions, such as motorists.
Now, a new study has shown that human ethics can be applied to computers. The results can have significant implications for managing obstacles to self-driving cars.
Researchers from the Institute of Cognitive Science at the University of Osnabruck designed a simple formula based on a variety of organisms or objects, based on the "value of life".
This operation ensures the control of self-driving vehicles for the safety of the driver and pedestrians, especially children, in the event of an unavoidable accident.
Professor Peter Koenig, author of the study, said: "Now that we have learned how to introduce the idea of human ethical decisions in vehicles, we are still facing a double dilemma."
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"We have to decide whether moral values should be included in the guidelines for the behavior of machines and vehicles, and if they are, should machines work just like humans?"
Scientists used virtual reality to surround a group of volunteers with images and sounds, designing scenarios that simulated road traffic.
Volunteers were asked to drive cars in a neighborhood, in a foggy environment, to face unexpected obstacles, including the appearance of animals, humans and stray objects. Participants had to make decisions about who should be saved.
The researchers analyzed the results based on statistical models, creating rules that helped explain the ethical decisions taken.
Scientists say that at the beginning of a new era with the need for clear rules, otherwise machines will make decisions for us.
The results are reported in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience .