This case study aims at analyzing the normativity of AVs against the background of different vision of mobility, smart city-concepts, and structural change in regional areas. An accurate ethical frameworks needs to be tailored with respect of those practices, and socio-political conditions potentially altered by the automatization of traffic and transport. I have shown that a micro-analysis of user-technology configurations can interplay with an ethical reflection on system design. I also pointed out the differences between a phenomenological and a post-phenomenological description of engaging with automated vehicles.This year, I will present Waymo’s vision in terms of the social worlds, desirabilities, and values implied at the Society for Philosophy of Technology conference, which I am also going to compare with the visions of traditional car makers (such as BMW). Ultimately, the goal is to show that technological potential varies with the respective social visions of the future (e.g., also communal concepts of inter-modal mobility) and how, depending on the implementation conditions, various normative aspects come into play, which, among other things, decisively influence the ethical weighing of value references (e.g., safety versus personal freedom versus sustainability).

This project is conducted by Suzana Alpsancar.