The ‘Trolley Problem,’ a well-known thought experiment, has come to symbolise the ‘ethics of autonomous driving’—a powerful narrative that gained traction alongside the excitement surrounding driverless cars. While the problem is still used in classrooms to highlight the contrasts between utilitarian and deontological ethical frameworks in analytic philosophy, it has also influenced our expectations of AI-driven technologies. It suggests that ethical decision-making can be automated and data-driven, rather than remaining a human, social, or individualised practice.
Auto-Correct explores the language and materiality around ‘autonomy,’ as well as the cultural impact of epistemic tools like the Trolley Problem and Moral Machine. These shape how safety and automobility are framed as challenges for the driverless car to solve. Blending critical studies of technology, culture, and society, the book examines how driverless cars are reshaping forms of governance, responsibility and values.
Auto-Correct examines the cultural ontologies of the driverless car: as an AI/robot imaginary, a big data infrastructure, and a conventional twentieth-century automobile. The book ultimately argues for broader understanding of ethics and values—not just as outputs of AI systems but as essential components of our present and future social and technological landscapes.