Abstract
Automated vehicles (AVs) have the potential to cause profound shifts across a wide range of areas of human life, including economic structures, land use, lifestyles and personal well-being. Most current social science on AVs is narrowly framed. Research on public attitudes has focused on whether people are likely to accept and use AVs. We contend that failing to anticipate a wider range of profound social implications may have serious negative consequences, and that social scientists from a range of disciplinary perspectives can provide invaluable insights. Our conclusions are the product of a workshop in London held in 2018 to discuss the place of social science research in relation to the development of AVs. This paper summarises a core selection of our concerns, interests, theoretical and substantive points of reference and aspirations for a constructive role in this field of research and development.
Highlights
Introduction and backgroundThis article is jointly authored by a group of social scientists
We started from the uncontroversial premise that the development and emergence of automated vehicles (AVs) are likely to lead to profound and wide-ranging shifts in our world, with implications for economic structures, land use, lifestyles and personal well-being
We argue that these areas of impact have been given at best cursory thought to date, as attention has been concentrated on a relatively narrow set of considerations, mainly relating to the transport system itself
Summary
This article is jointly authored by a group of social scientists. It is the product of a workshop held in London in April 2018 to discuss the role of social sciences in the development of automated vehicles (AVs). Constructive social science means moving beyond the conventional and restrictive division of labour between the development of technology on one hand and assessment of it on the other Speaking, this should entail new modes of collaboration with those involved in the development of the technologies. An underappreciated benefit of the social sciences is in generating concepts that can, when built into use scenarios, help technologists and system architects increase the resilience and robustness of their thinking and planning. Models exist for this in other areas of technology development and implementation. Some of us come with experience of previous transport debates or previous emerging technologies, from which policymakers and innovators have learnt sometimes hard lessons
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