Autonomous vehicles (AVs) should reduce traffic accidents, but they will sometimes haveto choose between two evils, such as running over pedestrians or sacrificing themselvesand their passenger to save the pedestrians. Defining the algorithms that will help AVsmake these moral decisions is a formidable challenge. We found that participants in sixAmazon Mechanical Turk studies approved of utilitarian AVs (that is, AVs that sacrificetheir passengers for the greater good) and would like others to buy them, but they wouldthemselves prefer to ride in AVs that protect their passengers at all costs. The studyparticipants disapprove of enforcing utilitarian regulations for AVs and would be less willingto buy such an AV. Accordingly, regulating for utilitarian algorithms may paradoxicallyincrease casualties by postponing the adoption of a safer technology.
