For the conclusion of my senior year in high school, I spent the semester developing a thesis investigating the topic of liability in autonomous vehicles. This 28 page document below was the culmination of over five months of research and examines the issue through the moral and legal sectors, advocating for a legal agency model to provide representation for autonomous vehicles.

This topic stemmed from my interest in the field of autonomous robotics, as well as exposure to my philosophy and ethics throughout my high school years. I wanted to take a look at some of the pressing ideas in the field and try to put the concepts in a new light.

Concept

In the concept of the agency model, I was able to examine an avenue that, so far as my research could tell, had not been addressed in any research publications. This approach relied upon a principal to set moral guidelines for the vehicle to follow, that could then be used for inferences in a machine learning model. By identifying, and clearly establishing, a principal as the basis of the moral reasoning of the vehicle, there would be one entity who could be held legally accountable within our existing legal system and morally accountable within our societal structure.

The issues I covered are by no means settled, and I believe they will remain a topic of intense discussion for years to come as advances in autonomous systems further embed the technology in mainstream society. I’ve inserted the abstract below, as well as a link to the full thesis.

Abstract

Excerpted from Autonomous Vehicles: The Viability of Moral and Legal Agency, by Lukas Severinghaus, copyright 2020.

Autonomous vehicles are being integrated into the fabric of daily life. The concept of computerized transportation promises increased safety, though at the same time exposing moral and legal issues around their implementation. Who is ultimately morally responsible for harm caused by an autonomous vehicle? Who is legally liable? Can the vehicle itself take moral or legal responsibility? This thesis proposes solutions to some of these challenges through the lens of agency status, a concept heretofore not thoroughly considered, enabling a more proactive approach to the adoption of this technology. Legal agency solves the current manufacturer legal burden and subtly modifies the legal system to accommodate self-learning systems. Moral agency complements legal agency by filling the gaps and addressing more nuanced issues of responsibility that would otherwise be left untouched. Ultimately, agency status is a vital first step to bridging the gap between rapidly advancing technology and the legal and moral societal frameworks.

Download the document here: PDF