Moreover, the framework proposes a dual-process theory, which explains that both intuitive and rational moral reasoning are integral processes of ethical decision-making during the AV moral dilemma. This proposition is derived from the link between individual factors and personal moral philosophy. For instance, the framework explains that AV users from Eastern cultures will tend to endorse a situationist ethics position (high idealism and high relativism), which views that ethical decisions are relative to context, compared to AV users from Western cultures. Further, the framework includes variables (e.g., perceived moral intensity, individual factors, and personal moral philosophies) that influence the ethical decision-making process. This study addresses the key question: What factors affect ethical behavioral intentions in the AV moral dilemma? To answer this question, this study draws theories from multidisciplinary research fields to propose the “Integrative ethical decision-making framework for the AV moral dilemma.” The framework includes four interdependent ethical decision-making stages: AV moral dilemma issue framing, intuitive moral reasoning, rational moral reasoning, and ethical behavioral intention making. However, there are research gaps in explainable AV ethical decision-making processes that predict how AVs’ moral behaviors are made that are acceptable from the AV users’ perspectives. The emerging social concern of how an AV should make ethical decisions during unavoidable accidents is referred to as the moral dilemma of AV, which has promoted heated discussions among various stakeholders. Despite technological advancements, unavoidable AV accidents that result in life-and-death consequences cannot be completely eliminated.

The autonomous vehicle (AV) is one of the first commercialized AI-embedded robots to make autonomous decisions. 3Information-based Design Research Group, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Graduate School of Culture Technology, Daejeon, South Korea.2Multi-Agent Robotic Systems (MARS) Lab, School of Computing Science, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada.

1Robots with Social Intelligence and Empathy (ROSIE) Lab, School of Computing Science, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada.

Jimin Rhim 1,2, Ji-Hyun Lee 3, Mo Chen 2 and Angelica Lim 1*

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