Trolley problem

Trolley problem is a thought experiment in ethics. The general problem states:

There is a runaway trolley barreling down the railway tracks. Ahead, on the tracks, there are five people tied up and unable to move. The trolley is headed straight for them. You are standing some distance off in the train yard, next to a lever. If you pull this lever, the trolley will switch to a different set of tracks. However, you notice that there is one person on the side track. You have two options: (1) Do nothing, and the trolley kills the five people on the main track. (2) Pull the lever, diverting the trolley onto the side track where it will kill one person. Which is the correct choice? Which is the correct choice?

There are different variants of this problem involving known people in the problem for example. This problem re-arise recently with the self-driving cars and the new AI features. That problem is related with the omission bias.

In the self-driving cars there appears the variations on the problems and the consequent concerns and worries:

• The Trolley Problem Is A Real One For Self-Driving Cars. AndroidHeadlines.
• The problem with self-driving cars: who controls the code?. TheGuardian
• Driverless cars are colliding with the creepy Trolley Problem. WashingtonPost
• Self-Driving Cars and the Trolley Problem. Huffingtonpost.
• Self-driving cars and the Trolley problem. Tanay Jaipuria
• Don’t worry, self-driving cars are likely to be better at ethics than we are

See also