An Ethical Dilemma - What Would You Do?

Hi Gauri,
I think I can take a guess on the paper’s topic. It might be on the lines of AI eating up many many jobs ?!
Well, my answer to your Q would be firm only for case C, I would let the trolley be on the track where there are 5 criminals. In all other cases, it’s really hard to decide.
Awaitng interesting conversations ahead.

Sinant

 

Do Nothing. [no additional information required]

Day of the Dead (known as Día de Muertos in Spanish) is celebrated in Mexico between October 31st and November 2nd. On this holiday, Mexicans remember and honor their deceased loved ones. It's not a gloomy or morbid occasion, rather it is a festive and colorful holiday celebrating the lives of those who have passed on. Mexicans visit cemeteries, decorate the graves and spend time there, in the presence of their deceased friends and family members. They also make elaborately decorated altars (called ofrendas) in their homes to welcome the spirits. Your Guide to Mexico's Day of the Dead​

A visitor might wonder why is it such a celebratory, happy day. The natives answer that it is better to be dead than to suffer a life of torment, struggle, and misery.

 

IMHO not taking action is also a choice. I will choose the lesser evil in all except case E. That is personal because my family member is involved.

 

Some initial (quick) thoughts...

I read a recent study too that concluded decisions vary based on social and economic factors across regions.

I wonder, if time and place mattered and if cultural thoughts (morals from epics, being taught since childhood) influenced our decisions (at least in the context of Indian mindsets).

To think... Rama was just and lawful (to the maximum) while Krishna allowed some leaning and adjustments if it meant 'greater good' in the end. To be entirely a Rama or a Krishna in our lives, is, in turn, a trolley problem set forth for us? How do you want to or will you act? This again brings me back to the #Time&Place idea. Bhishma, Drona, and Karna had all the powers in the world to have stopped Draupati from being drawn to the dice court. They must have been in the trolley problem situation themselves; whether to stand by dharma? or duty? or personal feelings? - to do the right thing or to serve the ruling king or take the side of a best friend in the case of Karna. They chose to do nothing (to stop) which btw is a valid option though ethically may be controversial. To each their own morals and it's subjective, but did the cause of 'greater good' play any role? To what extent? Or it's about #Time&Place indeed after all?

Today they are that, tomorrow the Nobel scientist may discover the cure and sell it to the enemy instead. Likewise, the five ordinary people could become Nobel winners themselves tomorrow. #Time&Place...?

Maybe irrelevant, just some random wonderings.

 

The trolley problem, an old chestnut though it is, has had a bit of a revival in the context of AI decision-making for autonomous vehicles. What criteria ought an AI to employ in choosing between unpalatable alternatives?

A 'right to life' variant of the problem is the following: in the event of a fire, would you save one infant or a freezer with five thousand IVF embryos? Most people are pretty consistent on this one!!

Here's a poll to add to your poll.
In case you haven't come across it already, here's an essay arguing that it's essentially a distraction.

PS: Hmmm ... looks like our posts crossed!

 

Thanks for that backstory.
Last week I saw a picture of central american immigrants sleeping on the sleeper-ties of two adjacent railway tracks. And that is exactly like the thought-expt. On the left track there was a pale-skin person with a smart phone. On the right track every one is brown-skinned..... like a thought-expt. designed for answers from a select demographic .......and so on.
Tesla's self-drive car deciding who to kill ? When brakes were to fail in a Tesla, they ought to design the car to have all of the four wheels splay, (like a downhill skier splaying his skis inward to come to a stop at the bottom of the hill) so that the car stops faster than ever.

 

Maybe the cars should be made with an extra pair of (foldable) metal wings! Saves us the troubles of the dilemmas to wonder ponder annnd... all lives too! Push the lever and zooom overhead! Ravana 'vimana' style! (I haven't come out of the #mythology hangover yet I guess!)

Hey, flying cars ain't just a dream anymore!