The Ethics of Autonomous Vehicles
Blowing the whistle
Imagine that you discover that the design is flawed and that there is a large probability that one or more of the first production cars will kill a pedestrian. What are your team’s responsibilities under the IET’s Rules of Conduct and its guidance to members on whistleblowing? What is your team’s responsibility as a whistleblower? How should the company react to the team if it becomes a whistle blower? Would your team blow the whistle?
There are many ethical implications of technological advancements. As engineers, we are tasked with not only pushing the boundaries of innovation but also ensuring the safety and well-being of society. So, it is important to consider what happens when we uncover design flaws that could potentially endanger lives. In a scenario where a design flaw in our autonomous vehicle poses a significant risk to pedestrians, our commitment to uphold our responsibilities under the IET’s Rules of Conduct and its guidance on whistleblowing becomes extremely important. According to the IET’s Rules of Conduct, members are obligated to act when encountering a scenario which violates these rules. Where failure to raise concern and report the situation could render us liable to disciplinary action under the IET’s rules. As a whistleblower it is important to raise concerns about these dangers, risks, or wrongdoing that will affect others, where our ethical duty is to prioritise public safety over corporate interests.
Therefore, I believe in a setting where we can recognise a design flaw I think is of paramount importance to report the issues to more senior staff, with failure to rectify the situation internally, for the public good the only option is to whistleblow to ensure the safety of everyone. Making sure that I adhere to the commitments made to the IET and following the Rules of Conduct to make sure I lead an ethical career and don’t put anyone in danger.