IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2016 - 45

W

ith over one billion vehicles
in the world today [1], the
motorized road vehicle is the
pillar of modern society.
Since the beginning of the
20th century, the automobile
has revolutionized our spaces, practices, cultures, and identities through a complex
matrix of technical, financial, economic, political, and social linkages [2], [3]. Visions of automobile use have always shaped its design, manufacture, and production.
Now, motorized road transport is set to revolutionize our
society once again on a huge scale. Recent technological
developments in propulsion, telecommunications, sensing, and in-vehicle computing technology are expanding
the range of vehicles' capabilities. A technological convergence is underway, moving towards self-driving vehicle
(SDV) technology. These vehicles will utilize computational algorithms, sensors, and communication devices to automatically navigate a variety of environments with limited or no intervention from human drivers.
While vehicular automation has existed in varying
forms for quite some time (e.g., autopilot systems,
automated trains), SDVs offer potential for revolutionary outcomes. SDV technology promises to
shape society in broader and more pervasive ways,
potentially resulting in a greater level of societal
disruption than other automated vehicle systems. SDV technology might even bring about
a level of societal disruption equal to that
of personal computers. Current popular
discourse is beginning to outline a
vision of the benefits and limitations
of this disruption.
In the spirit of responsible innovation, wherein the innovation
process should be aligned with
social needs [4]-[6], we will argue
that SDVs introduce new challenges in terms of social justice,
affecting the distribution of benefits and burdens across society as
a whole [7]. Our starting premise is
that technology is a profoundly social
phenomenon, with both intended and
unintended consequences (positive and negative)
for our everyday lives. By assuming a positive and
unproblematic future for SDV technology, current design
practices and institutions have systematically ignored a
number of critical social and ethical challenges. Consequently, we will argue that a better understanding of the
technology in a broader social context, along with open
discussion of the distribution of burdens and benefits in
a current and future society, enables the development of
september 2016

∕

an improved design practice. We argue for an "expanded
technological design horizon" that engages a more ethical design practice for SDV technology. In doing so, we
aspire to steer current engineering practices beyond a
narrow, technical perspective. Ultimately, we hope to
broaden the conversation about design processes in
general for technologies that are likely to shape societal
development on a large scale.

How are SDVs Currently Defined?
It is essential to clarify the current technological definitions of SDV technology. The SDV is an arrangement of
technologies whose aim is to remove some or all of a driver's actions and interventions. Consequently, SDVs are
expected to navigate their environment with little or no
driver input. This development represents a vision of
transport technology that has arisen from the technology
market and is set to shape transport. According to this
vision, five levels of automation or driver input are defined
in engineering standards. These levels vary from driver
assistance to full automation [8]-[13]. The level of automation represents the level of driver responsibility for controlling the vehicle and monitoring the environment.
Before SDVs, conventional vehicles were already technologically sophisticated, making use of sensing, processing, and communications technologies to collect,
process, and communicate data about the vehicle (such
as engine performance) and its environment (such as
parking sensors or reversing cameras). However, in order
to navigate any environment with little or no human
action, a multitude of powerful, sophisticated sensors
must be included. These sensors gather many different
kinds of data (e.g., geographical coordinates, speed,
acceleration, and obstacles in close proximity) to build a
comprehensive representation of the vehicle and its surrounding environment. To handle such complex data in
real-time, SDVs require increased processing power and
data storage capacity, accompanied by sophisticated algorithms to make and monitor driving decisions. According
to some SDV visions, these two sets of technologies alone
are enough to enable the SDV to navigate its environment. However, some visions argue that SDVs will also
have to include communications technologies to enable
direct, fast communication with other vehicles or surrounding infrastructure. This communication capability
might enable advanced features such as "platooning,"
where vehicles deliberately and intelligently coordinate
their speed and share information about road conditions
(such as seen in the film Minority Report).

What Are The Current Visions
of SDV Benefits and Limitations?
An integral aspect of any technology is the underlying
vision of the future and associated values. Such vision

IEEE Technology and Society Magazine

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