Join the Department of Psychology for a special guest talk with Dr. Azim Shariff, associate professor of Psychology and Social Behavior at the University of California, Irvine.
Title: When Robots Take the Wheel: Allowing Self-Driving Cars to Navigate Life or Death Decisions
Abstract: Self-driving cars offer a bright future—provided the public is willing to engage in widespread adoption. Thus far consumers aren’t as excited as is the auto industry. I’ll discuss the psychological roadblocks that stand in the way of broad acceptance, focusing specifically on the ethical challenges that emerge when we yield our autonomy to the algorithms behind self-driving cars.
About: Azim Shariff is an associate professor of Psychology and Social Behavior at the University of California, Irvine. His research broadly focuses on moral psychology, with a focus on religion’s psychological and social consequences. This work has appeared in top academic journals such as Science and Trends in Cognitive Sciences, and has been covered in popular media outlets such as The Economist, New Scientist and The New York Times. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto in 2004, and his doctoral degree at the University of British Columbia in 2010.