Autonomous vehicles

Courses GCSE Computer Science Ethics & Legalities Autonomous vehicles

Who Is Responsible When Software Steers

AQA 3.8 lists autonomous vehicles as an exam context for ethical, legal and privacy impacts. The car’s software chooses speed and path from sensors and maps. That raises who is liable after a crash: the owner, the manufacturer, or the programmer.

Cameras and location logs can protect passengers and also track where people go. Designers trade passenger safety against other road users, and they must decide how much data is stored and who can demand it after an incident.

An ethical issue with autonomous vehicles is

{"answers": {"A": "Who is responsible if the software causes a crash", "B": "Whether DIV or MOD is used in the speedometer", "C": "Which Huffman code represents the letter E", "D": "Whether the car uses a star or bus LAN at home"}, "question_text": "An ethical issue with autonomous vehicles is", "correct_answer": "A"}

Safety versus Privacy

Safety

Always-on cameras and telemetry can reconstruct a crash and improve the model. That evidence can save lives on later journeys if the software is updated.

Privacy

The same log is a map of someone’s week. Insurers, employers or police might demand it. People may have little choice if every new car records by default.

Autonomous vehicles raise [[liability]] after a crash and [[privacy]] if journeys are logged.

{"cloze_text": "Autonomous vehicles raise [[liability]] after a crash and [[privacy]] if journeys are logged."}

{"keyword": "autonomous vehicle", "definition": "A vehicle that uses software and sensors to control some or all of the driving task"}

Question Type: fill in the blanks

{"paragraph": "Crash logs can improve [[safety]] but may reveal a person's [[location]] history."}

Question Type: short answer

{"answer": "Journey logs and cameras can show where people went and who was with them.", "rubric": {"0": "Incorrect or no response", "1": "Partial credit", "2": "Journey logs and cameras can show where people went and who was with them."}, "question": "Give one privacy concern with self-driving cars."}