Moral Machines

Have you ever heard of the trolley problem? It is a set of imaginary scenarios used by ethicists—people who ask questions about right and wrong.

Here’s one scenario. Say you are driving a car down a curvy mountain road when you suddenly meet a flock of sheep. You don’t have time to stop. You could swerve into the mountain (and probably die). You could swerve in the other direction, off the side of the mountain (and definitely die). Or you could plow into the sheep (which will probably kill some sheep and damage your car, but you will likely be OK). Yikes. What do you do?

What if it is not a flock of sheep but a