The Trolley Solution: Speculative Fiction Addressing the Trolley Problem in the Context of AI in Education

Abstract

The Trolley Solution is a speculative fiction short story that can be used as a single teaching case study in the classroom to discuss and debate the emergent issues related to the introduction of artificial intelligence, specifically in the higher education sector. The short story squares off humans against machines, provides poignant ideas on the future of work, describes organizational operational efficiencies that are being considered in the higher education sector, triggers critical thinking in identifying what it means to be human, points to the disconnectedness felt by everyday people in society, and considers how humans will learn in the future, among other themes addressed. The Trolley Solution points to broader impacts and social implications of AI, as it considers who or what is more ethical in a variety of circumstances. For those who have studied the Trolley Problem in depth, it is known that the philosophical problem has purposefully been designed with no real solution but instead is an attempt at thinking through various avenues of response to a moral dilemma.