Trolled by the Trolley Problem: On What Matters for Ethical Decision Making in Automated Vehicles

Automated vehicles have to make decisions, such as driving maneuvers or rerouting, based on environment data and decision algorithms. There is a question whether ethical aspects should be considered in these algorithms. When all available decisions within a situation have fatal consequences, this leads to a dilemma. Contemporary discourse surrounding this issue is dominated by the trolley problem, a specific version of such a dilemma. Based on an outline of its origins, we discuss the trolley problem and its viability to help solve the questions regarding ethical decision making in automated vehicles. We show that the trolley problem serves several important functions but is an ill-suited benchmark for the success or failure of an automated algorithm. We argue that research and design should focus on avoiding trolley-like problems at all rather than trying to solve an unsolvable dilemma and discuss alternative approaches on how to feasibly address ethical issues in automated agents.