Epistemic Side-effect Effect of Moral Decision-making in Autonomous Driving

Abstract

The Epistemic Side-Effect Effect (ESEE) influences how people perceive the reasonableness of ethical decisions made by autonomous driving and the extent to which the driving system is informed of adverse outcomes. When autonomous driving faces complex adverse outcomes, it must deal with challenges related to knowledge and responsibility attribution. In order to minimise the impact of ESEE, more advanced probabilistic assessment models of adverse outcomes need to be built into the algorithmic system to overcome the knowledge attribution problem, and transparency requirements and responsibility tracking mechanisms need to be established to ensure that responsibilities are clearly defined after an accident to address the responsibility attribution problem.