{"id":320582,"date":"2018-05-16T12:18:37","date_gmt":"2018-05-16T16:18:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=320582"},"modified":"2018-05-17T10:11:06","modified_gmt":"2018-05-17T14:11:06","slug":"josh-pachter-18-and-the-ethics-of-autonomous-vehicles-320582","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/josh-pachter-18-and-the-ethics-of-autonomous-vehicles-320582\/","title":{"rendered":"The ethics of autonomous vehicles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Making their mark: This is\u00a0one in a series<\/a>\u00a0of profiles celebrating members of Rochester\u2019s graduating class of 2018.<\/em><\/p>\n

Josh Pachter \u201918 knew he wanted to study engineering in college, but he also wanted the freedom to explore other fields.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of engineering schools pigeon hole you,\u201d he says. \u201cI didn\u2019t feel that way when I came to Rochester because of its open curriculum. I became a computer science major with a philosophy minor, and I was able to integrate my fields of study.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was illustrated this year, when Pachter took part in the Senior Scholars Research Program<\/a>. In a project involving self-driving cars, Pachter addressed some timely, practical\u2014and philosophical\u2014questions: Can we train machines to act ethically? And if so, how?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a conventional research project done in a lab,\u201d says the the Lexington, Massachusetts, native, who graduates Sunday. \u201cIt\u2019s a combination of philosophy and computer science\u2014lots of literature review and philosophizing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pachter\u2019s advisor, Hayley Clatterbuck, an assistant professor of philosophy, says Pachter was able to apply his deep knowledge of computer science and philosophy to synthezie complex theories in both fields and generate \u201cfascinating\u201d results.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis project truly embodied the promise and necessity of interdisciplinary work,\u201d she says. \u201cIf we use machine learning to train autonomous vehicles, which machine-learning approaches should we use and on which data should we train them? Josh examined various cutting-edge machine-learning processes to determine which problems they are most apt to solve. Then, he considered what kind of problem morality is, a surprisingly complicated topic that raises many important questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Pachter found, machine learning is plagued by forms of bias when programmed by humans who may have different moral frameworks. Examples of bias include hugging the side of the road too closely or choosing to run over one group of humans rather than another because of some arbitrary factor.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s important to one may be less important to another, and the results could be catastrophic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf our phone doesn\u2019t work the way we want, we\u2019re inconvenienced, but we\u2019re probably not going to die,\u201d Pachter says. \u201cThe implications are far higher with autonomous vehicles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pachter\u2019s idea is to create ethical machines through a process similar to how we raise children.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we expect autonomous cars to drive better and safer than we do, we should provide the groundwork,\u201d he says. \u201cWe can provide some fundamental moral truths and through a training process, the machine will ultimately learn to make good higher-level decisions without the need for bad input from its parents\u2014humans\u2014who are actually bad drivers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The best example? Don\u2019t run into people.<\/p>\n

At the end of the training, Pachter says simulations must be run to make sure the system makes decisions that are \u201csocially permissible and can be accepted as morally legitimate by potential users.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSince we haven\u2019t told the machine how to behave explicity,\u201d he adds, \u201cthis testing is crucial to ensure that the rules it taught itself align well with our values.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pachter\u2019s research experience includes a summer at Harvard University\u2019s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, where he worked on a soft robotic glove aimed at restoring the ability to grip to stroke victims and muscular dystrophy patients. He also worked in the University of Rochester\u2019s Human Computer Interaction Lab<\/a> working on a virtual conversation coach that provides live feedback on how we are speaking.<\/p>\n

Last summer, Pachter landed an internship with Amazon at their Seattle headquarters. He was hired before returning to school and will begin work this September as a software development engineer.<\/p>\n

During his time at the University, Pachter was part of the After Hours<\/a> a capella group, was a Senator in the Students\u2019 Association<\/a>, and a member of the 2018 Class Council<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so bittersweet to be graduating,\u201d he says. \u201cI love this school and the people who are here. I\u2019m happy to have been here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a computer science major minoring in philosophy, Josh Pachter was ideally suited for developing concepts for programming self-driving cars that behave ethically. 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