Autonomous Vehicles and the Basic Structure of Society

Abstract The widespread introduction of fully autonomous vehicles (AVs) presents macro-level socioeconomic concerns in addition to micro-level “ethics on the road” dilemmas. This paper concerns the impacts of AVs on our basic socioeconomic structure. Given the advent of self-driving freight trucks and taxis, for instance, millions of drivers could become unemployed very quickly. Citizens and leaders should address these kinds of macro-level social justice issues in advance in order to forestall the worst outcomes. To plausibly address these issues, we explore them using John Rawls’s theory of justice. After explaining the “original position” thought experiment and the principles of justice Rawls espouses, we apply these principles to the question of AVs. Focusing on the cases of truck and taxi drivers, we argue that the principles of justice as fairness support several possible policy-guiding norms that can be used to develop specific regulatory policies and ensure smoother economic transition as AVs are implemented on a broad scale.