Should Cars Drive Themselves?

Return to the list of classes for Spring 2020.

Instructor: Sabrina Weiss
5-10 students
Suggested Age Ranges: 10+
Meets: tbd, 4 weeks

Course Description

Should we give control of our cars to computers?  What are the pros and cons of this?

With the status quo showing that humans are bad at driving cars because we easily get distracted and don’t make rational judgements under pressure, are we fooling ourselves into thinking that humans are safer than we actually are? 

This course will be a short, intensive exploration of self-driving cars and the issues surrounding them today.  We will practice critical thinking, question framing, and analysis based on research. Students will be expected to do independent research to prepare for class discussions.   

Texts: 

“All Hail the Driverless Car!” - IQ2 US Debate

Outline: 

Introduction to topic

Watch and discuss “All Hail the Driverless Car!” (2 weeks)

Background research: status quo driving statistics

Background research: history of self-driving cars and algorithms

Analysis and Discussion: putting these together

Register for Should Cars Drive Themselves?