Case Study: Autonomous Vehicles: Technological Changes and Ethical Challenges

Case Study: Autonomous Vehicles: Technological Changes and Ethical Challenges 1. What are the primary issues in this case? Be as specific as possible. There are several important issues in this case. The most critical problem is safety. According to John Capp, GM’s director of Global Active Safety Electronics and Innovation, the primary task of developing GM’s autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicle is to be safe under any situation. The next problem is that drivers may rely more on the semi-autonomous vehicle, which is dangerous for themselves and others on the road because we cannot guarantee the semi- autonomous vehicle is 100% safe. After all, this is a new technique and is developing in the beginning stage. For example, some drivers even fell asleep in the semi-autonomous car, which might cause some terrible outcomes if something unexpected happened. Then, the liability for some accidents is not apparent because there is no standards or specific laws about automated vehicles. At the same time, few regulations can be applied to automated vehicles in the state governments. Also, the ethical problems are significant in this case. The automated vehicles are designed to reduce the injuries caused by car accidents, but it would create more wounds if it were not designed well. Therefore, it was in an ethical dilemma now. 2. What are the internal points of conflict (trade-offs) that exist for GM/Cadillac? Cadillac belongs to the luxury car in the market, but it is hard to compete with other brands, like BMW, Audi, Mercedes, etc. From 2013 to 2014, the Cadillac sales dropped 6.5%, which was a significant ..................................................continued............................................