Self-Driving Cars Programmed to Sacrifice As They Hit the Road: Someone Is Going to DieBy Mac Slavo Right now, their makers are in the process of convincing Congress that they can handle their own regulations even as they continue working out the kinks. The U.S. Senate subcommittee for Commerce, Science and Transportation heard testimony from Duke University roboticist Missy Cummings, who admitted that fatalities and accidents are inevitable as self-driving cars attempt to integrate with a busy and complex society. The London Guardian reports: The robot car revolution hit a speed bump on Tuesday as senators and tech experts sounded stern warnings about the potentially fatal risks of self-driving cars. There is no question that someone is going to die in this technology, said Duke University roboticist Missy Cummings in testimony before the US Senate committee on commerce, science and transportation. The question is when and what can we do to minimize that. Automotive executives and lawmakers sniped at each other over whether universal standards were necessary for self-driving cars. Senators Ed Markey and Richard Blumenthal, who have cosponsored legislation that proposes minimum testing standards for automated drivers The credibility of this technology is exceedingly fragile if people cant trust standards not necessarily for you, but for all the other actors that may come into this space at this point. These standards reflect the programming that will make sometimes fatal choices in the mix of situations that may involve innocent bystanders and no-win situations. In these cases, is there a moral gradient that computers and people can see eye-to-eye on? If the self-driving car is designed to avoid children at all costs, does that mean it could be programmed to kill (or sacrifice) you if/when you are caught inside of a car headed for disaster, or on the opposite side of the road as the child? There are no clear answers. The standards are already becoming morally complex. Google Xs Chris Urmson, the companys director of self-driving cars, said the company was trying to work through some difficult problems. Where to turn toward the child playing in the road or over the side of the overpass? Google has come up with its own Laws of Robotics for cars: We try to say, Lets try hardest to avoid vulnerable road users, and beyond that try hardest to avoid other vehicles, and then beyond that try to avoid things that that dont move in the world, and then to be transparent with the user that thats the way it works, Urmson said. But the morality of the decision-making structure of the computers processes, and the inevitability of chaos for at least some individuals is only part of the story. Autonomous vehicles will, ironically, also be quite vulnerable to hacking as Internet-connected devices in the car can be manipulated and used to take over the commands and data of really any of the newer smart cars on the road. The problem will be even bigger as self-driving cars become a bigger part of our life. We know that many of the sensors on self-driving cars are not reliable in good weather, in urban canyons, or places where the map databases are out of date, said Cummings. We know gesture recognition is a serious problem, especially in real world settings. We know humans will get in the back seat while they think their cars are on autopilot. We know people will try to hack into these systems. [W]e know that people, including bicyclists, pedestrians and other drivers, could and will attempt to game self-driving cars, in effect trying to elicit or prevent various behaviors in attempts to get ahead of the cars or simply to have fun, she said. Back in 2013, a couple of white hat hackers demonstrated how vulnerable a number of newer cars are to hacking. The possibilities are downright frightening everything from the stereo and windshield wipers to the brakes can be hacked and remotely controlled or shut off when you need them most. Just imagine what is possible in 2016. What happens when these self-driving cars of the future disagree with the human passenger about the priorities, or what is allowed in a critical situation like escaping a car jacking assault or avoiding a cop in pursuit? It isnt hard to see how trusting technology on the roads is going to complicate the future, and restrict our human ability to make decisions about important factors on the road. Lets just hope somebody programs these intelligent machines with some common sense. I dont think that Classic Cars have an issue with being hacked or manipulated. Read more: Top image credit You certainly will never catch me in one being at the mercy of a techno droid is not in my play book. NOBODY should buy these carsyikes! Talk about hackable..Even the Boeing planes with Uninteruptable (sp) Autopilot installed were immediately disabled by Lufthansa ( at a cost of millions of dollars) when they bought a fleet just insanity to take away a pilots control, or a drivers. I wouldnt want to be in one of these tinker toy cars with a fully-loaded tractor trailer bearing down on me. If enough people refused to buy or ride in these cars, the companies who made them would go out of business. But it seems there are always enough brainwashed people who will ride They allowed the public to have cell phones, wi-fi, smart meters and nuclear power didnt they? Get ready for the next venue of who cares about public safety. Corporate owned and operated government is the same as no government. The New Republic taking your money and your life with capitalism in the drivers seat providing US with a new form of state terrorism. The alien/military/industrial/complex is alive and well in your neighborhood. 