After Dinner Conversation

Volume 4, Issue 1, January 2023

Richard A. Shury
Pages 84-93

The Formula

To what extent should medical AI make life-and-death decisions? In this work of philosophical medical/AI short fiction, a group of young boys are out for a birthday. They are all drinking and, inevitably, get into a serious car crash as they plummet off the side of a bridge. The car automatically signals the accident and emergency medical drones and ambulance are immediately deployed to the wreck. There is limited time the medical drones must choose. Some of the boys live, some die. The deciding factored turned out to be that the drones are programmed to prioritize saving the lives of minors over adults. The boy who died, the one who has the birthday they were celebrating. Note: this story is a part of our legacy-of-excellence program. It was first published in the November 2020 issue of After Dinner Conversation.