This time he shrugged as if to apologise. But everyone in the room knew better than to believe him.
‘What about the name of the driver whose vehicle killed her?’
Jack shook his head. ‘I appreciate you have a curious nature, somewhat like an excitable puppy; however, none of this is of any consequence to the outcome of our decision, I’m afraid.’ He looked to the woman in plaid. ‘Any faults reported within the vehicle?’
‘The black box was given the standard examination along with a full diagnostic check and there were no errors reported,’ she replied. ‘From a legal perspective, I have no doubt that this is human error caused by the motorcyclist.’
‘Why didn’t the car try to avoid her?’ Libby continued. ‘All it does is brake.’
Jack looked at the others and rolled his eyes, offering another fake smile. ‘Are you not aware of how anautonomous vehicle makes a decision in a life or death scenario, Miss Dixon?’
‘Yes, of course but …’ However, Jack had little interest in Libby’s reply and spoke over her.
‘Then you will know that if a vehicle, like the one we have just watched, brakes without swerving then it has calculated the risk cost and makes its choice for a very, very good reason.’
‘Look to the left- and right-hand sides of hologram,’ added the dark-haired man. He was less condescending than Jack but still had yet to make eye contact with her. ‘On one side are parked cars, and on the other there’s a stream of moving vehicles. Swerving into the path of moving traffic could have caused more fatalities. Next to the parked vehicles is a pavement – from this angle you can see there are at least twelve pedestrians. Colliding with any of those cars could have pushed them into their path.’
‘Could have,’ Libby repeated. ‘That’s by no means a certainty though, is it?’
The room fell silent and she became aware that even Jack’s assistants were looking at each other nervously. But Libby wasn’t prepared to back down now. ‘Do you have a projection of exactly which cars it could have hit, the materials they’re made of and the force required to push them onto the pavement?’ she asked.
‘I … I … don’t believe we have …’ said the woman in plaid.
‘Shouldn’t we have that kind of information before we can make a judgement?’
‘Miss Dixon …’ began Jack and walked towards Libby, stopping in front of her. She felt small and insignificant as he towered above her. ‘Would you have preferred it if the vehicle had calculated a course of action that sacrificed the life of the driver and pedestrians to save one foolish girl? Should morepeople have been made to pay with their lives because of her idiocy?’
Libby bit the inside of her bottom lip to stop it quivering. ‘I thought that’s what these inquests were about, to discuss what happened and to make that decision together?’ she said. ‘Today is turning out to be just like yesterday – you’ve already decided on a verdict and it’s never the fault of the car.’
Jack took a step back and pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘This is what, your second day here? I don’t expect someone like you to grasp the ins and outs of software development. I do, however, expect you to trust what your Government has told you. The software used in AI has been embedded with human principles to help to guide the vehicle’s decision-making process.’
The more condescending Jack became, the more it spurred Libby’s defiance. ‘Are you trying to make me believe AI has the same cognitive abilities as you or I? A car can’t feel sympathy and empathy or operate with a moral code like we do.’
‘We have a lot to get through so perhaps it’s best we move on,’ said Jack. ‘Unless anyone has anything else to add that is pertinent to this case, then shall we take a vote?’ The others, with the exception of Libby, voiced their agreement.
‘If you could please tick one of the two boxes in the corner of the screen …’
A ringing phone coming from the corner of the room interrupted him. One of his assistants answered and Libby noticed the colour draining quickly from his face.
‘Sir,’ he directed towards Jack, ‘we will need to suspend proceedings for the time being.’ The hologram disappeared and at a beeping sound, all heads turned towards the large double doors as they unlocked andopened wide. The two bulky security operatives who had searched Libby on her arrival hurried inside, followed by their colleagues.
‘Will someone please explain to me what is happening?’ Jack asked.
‘I’m sorry to interrupt,’ the shorter of the two security men began sternly, ‘but a situation has arisen that requires your immediate attention.’
With his own tablet he swiped the screen until a television news channel appeared. He projected it on to one of the television screens on the large wall. It showed a rolling news channel and what appeared to be a distressed woman inside her moving vehicle, scrambling from window to window, banging on the glass with her fists. Libby immediately noticed she was pregnant.
‘Who is this?’ asked the religious rep. Around the image of the distressed stranger, four smaller screens flickered to life. Each appeared to contain other Passengers inside more vehicles, and all were clearly scared and confused.
‘Jack?’ asked the woman in plaid, looking to him for answers. Libby assumed by his blank expression that he had no more knowledge than she did.
‘Turn the volume up,’ he said, as a female news anchor spoke.
‘For those viewers just joining us, we are still trying to verify the validity of this live feed. But if what we are being told is correct, then it appears that four driverless vehicles are no longer under the control of their Passengers. We are still awaiting an official statement but there is speculation that the vehicles you are watching have been hacked.’
‘That’s ridiculous,’ Jack said dismissively. ‘It’s not possible.’
‘They’re scaremongering,’ the woman in plaid replied. ‘How can they broadcast this? It’s irresponsible.’
