Taking responsibility: A responsible research and innovation (RRI) perspective on insurance issues of semi-autonomous driving

Abstract

Semi-autonomous driving is an emerging – though not unprecedented – technology which cannot necessarily be seen as safe and reliably accident-free. Insurance companies thus play an important role as influential stakeholders in the negotiation and implementation processes around this new technology. They can either push the technology (e.g. by offering beneficial, promotional insurance models for semi-autonomous car owners) or constrain it (e.g. by providing restrictive insurance models or no insurance cover at all). Insurers face questions concerning ethical or societal consequences on various levels: not only when it comes to promoting the technology – whose impact is not yet certain and may range from saving to endangering lives – but also with respect to insurance models such as “pay as you drive”, which may involve discriminatory elements. The concept of responsible research and innovation (RRI) is well suited to accompanying and guiding insurers, policy makers and other stakeholders in this field through a responsible negotiation process that may prove beneficial for everyone. Part of the RRI approach is to make stakeholders aware of “soft” factors such as the ethical, societal or historical factors which influence innovation and of the need to include these aspects in their activities responsibly.