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Recode Daily

The 21st century trolley problem

Recode Daily

Recode

Society & Culture, Science, Technology

4.61.3K Ratings

🗓️ 29 December 2021

⏱️ 10 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Autonomous tech could lead to deaths at the hands of robots. But is continuing to let humans drive even worse? Recode’s Rani Molla explains. This episode was made by:  Producer: Taylor Maycan Engineer: Paul Robert Mounsey  Host: Adam Clark Estes  Support Recode Daily by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Think about cheese.

0:02.0

Make your thoughts cheesier.

0:04.2

Now add 100% chicken breast fillet, Chipoplae sauce and amadea cheese melt,

0:08.4

and it's giving the new cheesy chicken stack at McDonald's.

0:12.0

Did we mention it's cheesy?

0:13.9

Cheese.

0:15.8

Availments at the 4th of Jan, 2026 from 11 a.m.

0:18.1

Plus and participation may vary.

0:19.2

Subjects availability.

0:20.8

Hey, it's Adam. Just a quick reminder that Rico Daily will be back. of Jan 2026 from 11 a.m. Plus, and participation may vary. Subjects availability.

0:21.8

Hey, it's Adam.

0:26.6

Just a quick reminder that Rico Daily will be back with new episodes in the new year.

0:29.8

In the meantime, here's one of our favorites from this year. Self-driving cars are exciting.

0:40.1

Not only would they make it easier to get around, but they could also save a lot of lives.

0:44.6

What's up for debate, however, is exactly how we make the jump to this futuristic technology.

0:49.9

It's a bit like the trolley problem.

0:51.5

You know, the ethical dilemma from that famous episode of The Good Place?

0:55.1

I've been studying it my whole life.

0:57.2

It's just that it's so theoretical, you know?

1:00.1

I mean, you know, maybe there's a more concrete approach.

1:04.9

Well, let Michael, a demon played by Ted Danson, explain.

1:07.8

I made the trolley problem real so we can see how the ethics would actually play out. There are five workers on this track and one over there. Here are the levers to switch the tracks. Take a choice. The thing is, I mean, ethically speaking... No time, dude, make a decision. Well, it's tricky. I mean... Car companies have a similar decision to make when it comes to self-driving cars.

...

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