alt Hacker NewsWould people really pull the level to save 5 people? It seems to me like the default would be to just do nothing, stand by and record what happens with your phone.
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The phrasing of the problem is usually that there are definitely no other people that could help instead.
The bystander effect, which you're describing, is at least partly because people reason that someone else is likely to be able to intervene instead.
Just standing by makes total sense. By participating you become part of the problem.
If you pull the lever, your direct action kills a person. Legally saving 5 people does not offset the murder of a single person. This is no special case like self defense. Congrats for saving 5 people, you still go to prison as a murderer! Train company has responsibility to save those 5 people, not some random stranger.
The person at lever would became active participant on that train disaster. All we know the train could go too fast, apderail and kill 100 people.
Are we really at the point where we think that is a fair comparison?
Treating it like a fair comparison implies that AI would be conscious.
Maybe! It's an untestable thought experiment. The real world adds complications like fearing murder charges.
Sadly that's a good question. The closest evidence I can find is:
Surveys: Awad et all 2020 asked 70,000 people in 42 countries the 5 v 1 setup and 81% said they'd divert it
Someone else did a VR version and 90% pulled the switch to divert
And there was a study where people could give electric shocks to real mice :( In that study, most people redirected the shock to a single mouse.