How will the Privacy Issues Surrounding Autonomous Vehicles, Lead to the Dehumanisation of Humans?
ABSTRACT:
It is evident that we are currently a point in time where we rely heavily on transportation in order to function as a society. No example has been more evident than with our presentation situation amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, where we are relying heavily on our transportation network in order to provide food, goods, and other essential items to those in need. This sense of mobility could not have been developed without the vehicles themselves undergoing massive transformations, and technological leaps. However, I argue that furthering the development of automobiles towards autonomous vehicles (AVs), will lead towards the dehumanisation of mankind.
The following research paper is split into two portions, the primary focuses on providing background information to the reader about the topic at hand. Initially, I focus on the history of the car as an overall mode of transportation, and how its function has changed and developed over time due to both societal and technological advancements. I then go on to discuss the history of the battery, specifically focusing on the impact it has had on the automotive industry. This leads to the reveal of electric vehicles (EVs) – a car that has the capacity to impact both society as well as our planet – while also providing as a stepping stone into the future of the automotive industry with AVs. It is here that I also apply Kurzweil’s idea of the exponential growth of technology, which he discusses in his book The Singularity, and how we are the cusp of a revolution.
The latter portion of the research paper focuses on how the privacy issues surrounding autonomous vehicles will lead to the dehumanisation of humans. I start this discussion by focusing on the data privacy issues surrounding AVs themselves, and their need to access large amounts of information in order to have improved efficiency, as stipulated by Maurer et al. in their book Autonomous Driving. This is further supported by focusing on Cambridge Analytica’s Facebook breach, as well as debating upon the fact that if AVs become privatised, they have the opportunity to change their direction based upon the information collected of the user’s phone.
I then go onto explore the idea that with the rise of AVs comes the numerical assignment of the population, whereby each person is assigned a ‘worth’ akin to scenarios depicted in media such as The Good Place or In Time. This is based upon the trolley problem, in which an AV encounter the situation where it may get into an accident, it is able to choose the best course of action based upon choosing which are the best numbers to preserve. Following this, I acknowledge the fact that autonomous vehicles also have the potential to be beneficial for society, in that through the enhanced neural network – stipulated by Wanis Kabbaj – humans could become more efficient as a society and develop in further, and faster than anticipated. Lastly I discuss upon the idea that there should be a government standard for the “ethics settings” on AVs in lieu of the Manufacturers Ethics Settings & Personal Ethics Settings, as proposed by Gogoll and Müller. Using all the above information, I conduct the argument that the privacy issues surrounding AVs will lead to the dehumanisation of our species, influencing our future in ways unknown.
KEYWORDS:
Autonomous Vehicles, Ethics Settings, Data Privacy, Converging Technologies, Artificial Intelligence
RESPONSE:
Over the years, the transportation industry has played a vital role in our lives. Vehicles have allowed us to enjoy the comfort of private transportation, at a cost that most can afford. Over the years there have been various iterations of the basic model, ranging from its shape, and style, all the way to the fuel that it uses. These developments have helped further society as a whole, as we rely on the automotive industry to provide transportation of cargo, allow us to travel long distances, as well as explore the world and all its resources. The automotive industry has changed the way we view the car. Initially, many viewed the object as a status symbol, however it has now evolved into becoming a staple in almost every household. Additionally, the automotive industry has always been the convergence of many various industries with ripple effects being felt throughout different pieces of technology, for example – batteries, whereby advancements in this sector allowed for privileges such as lights, radios, etc. cars. Moreover, through the evolution in both these sectors, we arrive at our current point in time with the faster, more widely accepted Electric Vehicles (EVs). This piece of technology has had a great impact on our world, and environment, while also serving as the stepping stone into our future of autonomous vehicles (AVs). However, we are fast approaching a time when our beliefs are going to be challenged. We are beginning to enter the world of autonomous driving, a world where we no longer put our lives in the hands of a driver, but rather the code of an AI. This release of power to technology is felt throughout other sectors of society as well, for example: digital assistants, automated houses, and automated machinery. So, we must ask ourselves, where does that leave us as a society? The rise of autonomous vehicles is the final push , with which we begin to affect the way we regard human life and our right to privacy, in the hopes of creating a more synergetic automotive industry. This revolution forces us to question who controls the data that autonomous vehicles (AVs) collect in order to make them more efficient. We also start to question the way we view our belonging in society, as we rate what a human life is worth. Lastly, it raises the question – in the end who is in control, and who is responsible should anything happen?
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