“All things equal”: ethical principles governing why autonomous vehicle experts change or retain their opinions in trolley problems—a qualitative study
IntroductionAutonomous vehicles (AVs) are already being featured on some public roads. However, there is evidence suggesting that the general public remains particularly concerned and skeptical regarding the ethics of collision scenarios.MethodsThis study presents the findings of the first qualitati...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Robotics and AI |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frobt.2025.1544272/full |
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| author | Stephen R. Milford Stephen R. Milford B. Zara Malgir Bernice S. Elger Bernice S. Elger David M. Shaw David M. Shaw |
| author_facet | Stephen R. Milford Stephen R. Milford B. Zara Malgir Bernice S. Elger Bernice S. Elger David M. Shaw David M. Shaw |
| author_sort | Stephen R. Milford |
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| description | IntroductionAutonomous vehicles (AVs) are already being featured on some public roads. However, there is evidence suggesting that the general public remains particularly concerned and skeptical regarding the ethics of collision scenarios.MethodsThis study presents the findings of the first qualitative research into the ethical opinions of experts responsible for the design, deployment, and regulation of AVs. A total of 46 experts were interviewed in this study and presented with two trolley-problem-like vignettes. The experts were asked for an initial opinion on the basis of which the parameters of the vignettes were changed to gauge the principles that would result in either changing or retaining an ethical opinion. Much research has been conducted on public opinion, but there are no available research findings on the ethical opinions of AV experts.ResultsFollowing reflective thematic analysis, four important findings were deduced: 1) although the expert opinions are broadly utilitarian, they are nuanced in significant ways to focus on the impacts of collision scenarios on the community as a whole. 2) Obeying the rules of the road remains a significantly strong ethical opinion. 3) Responsibility and risk play important roles in how AVs should handle collision situations. 4) Egoistic opinions were present to a limited extent.DiscussionThe findings show that the ethics of AVs still pose a serious challenge; furthermore, while utilitarianism appears to be a driving ethical principle on the surface, along with the need for both AVs and vulnerable road users to obey the rules, questions concerning community impacts and risk vs. responsibility remain strong influences among AV experts. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-196a7aaec8ca4392acfea97b11b65649 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2296-9144 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
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| series | Frontiers in Robotics and AI |
| spelling | doaj-art-196a7aaec8ca4392acfea97b11b656492025-08-20T03:48:27ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Robotics and AI2296-91442025-05-011210.3389/frobt.2025.15442721544272“All things equal”: ethical principles governing why autonomous vehicle experts change or retain their opinions in trolley problems—a qualitative studyStephen R. Milford0Stephen R. Milford1B. Zara Malgir2Bernice S. Elger3Bernice S. Elger4David M. Shaw5David M. Shaw6Institute for Biomedical Ethics, University of Basel, Basel, SwitzerlandDepartment of Theology, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South AfricaInstitute for Biomedical Ethics, University of Basel, Basel, SwitzerlandInstitute for Biomedical Ethics, University of Basel, Basel, SwitzerlandCenter for Legal Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, SwitzerlandInstitute for Biomedical Ethics, University of Basel, Basel, SwitzerlandCare and Public Health Research Institute, Maastricht University, Maastricht, NetherlandsIntroductionAutonomous vehicles (AVs) are already being featured on some public roads. However, there is evidence suggesting that the general public remains particularly concerned and skeptical regarding the ethics of collision scenarios.MethodsThis study presents the findings of the first qualitative research into the ethical opinions of experts responsible for the design, deployment, and regulation of AVs. A total of 46 experts were interviewed in this study and presented with two trolley-problem-like vignettes. The experts were asked for an initial opinion on the basis of which the parameters of the vignettes were changed to gauge the principles that would result in either changing or retaining an ethical opinion. Much research has been conducted on public opinion, but there are no available research findings on the ethical opinions of AV experts.ResultsFollowing reflective thematic analysis, four important findings were deduced: 1) although the expert opinions are broadly utilitarian, they are nuanced in significant ways to focus on the impacts of collision scenarios on the community as a whole. 2) Obeying the rules of the road remains a significantly strong ethical opinion. 3) Responsibility and risk play important roles in how AVs should handle collision situations. 4) Egoistic opinions were present to a limited extent.DiscussionThe findings show that the ethics of AVs still pose a serious challenge; furthermore, while utilitarianism appears to be a driving ethical principle on the surface, along with the need for both AVs and vulnerable road users to obey the rules, questions concerning community impacts and risk vs. responsibility remain strong influences among AV experts.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frobt.2025.1544272/fullautonomous vehicleexpert opiniontrolley problemcrash scenarioethics |
| spellingShingle | Stephen R. Milford Stephen R. Milford B. Zara Malgir Bernice S. Elger Bernice S. Elger David M. Shaw David M. Shaw “All things equal”: ethical principles governing why autonomous vehicle experts change or retain their opinions in trolley problems—a qualitative study Frontiers in Robotics and AI autonomous vehicle expert opinion trolley problem crash scenario ethics |
| title | “All things equal”: ethical principles governing why autonomous vehicle experts change or retain their opinions in trolley problems—a qualitative study |
| title_full | “All things equal”: ethical principles governing why autonomous vehicle experts change or retain their opinions in trolley problems—a qualitative study |
| title_fullStr | “All things equal”: ethical principles governing why autonomous vehicle experts change or retain their opinions in trolley problems—a qualitative study |
| title_full_unstemmed | “All things equal”: ethical principles governing why autonomous vehicle experts change or retain their opinions in trolley problems—a qualitative study |
| title_short | “All things equal”: ethical principles governing why autonomous vehicle experts change or retain their opinions in trolley problems—a qualitative study |
| title_sort | all things equal ethical principles governing why autonomous vehicle experts change or retain their opinions in trolley problems a qualitative study |
| topic | autonomous vehicle expert opinion trolley problem crash scenario ethics |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frobt.2025.1544272/full |
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