biostudies-literatureUnknown122(21)Lu HAutonomous vehicles (AVs) will soon cruise our roads as a global undertaking. Beyond completing driving tasks, AVs are expected to incorporate ethical considerations into their operation. However, a critical challenge remains. When multiple road users are involved, their impacts on AV ethical decision-making are distinct yet interrelated. Current AVs lack social sensitivity in ethical decisions, failing to enable both differentiated consideration of road users and a holistic view of their collective impact. Drawing on research in AV ethics and neuroscience, we propose a scheme based on social concern and human-plausible cognitive encoding. Specifically, we first assess the individual impact that each road user poses to the AV based on risk. Then, social concern can differentiate these impaProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of Americae2401626122https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC12130892biostudies-literatureEmpowering safer socially sensitive autonomous vehicles using human-plausible cognitive encoding.PMC12130892Yang HZhu MLu HLu CWang XWang YFeng SfalseEmpowering safer socially sensitive autonomous vehicles using human-plausible cognitive encoding.Autonomous vehicles (AVs) will soon cruise our roads as a global undertaking. Beyond completing driving tasks, AVs are expected to incorporate ethical considerations into their operation. However, a critical challenge remains. When multiple road users are involved, their impacts on AV ethical decision-making are distinct yet interrelated. Current AVs lack social sensitivity in ethical decisions, failing to enable both differentiated consideration of road users and a holistic view of their collective impact. Drawing on research in AV ethics and neuroscience, we propose a scheme based on social concern and human-plausible cognitive encoding. Specifically, we first assess the individual impact that each road user poses to the AV based on risk. Then, social concern can differentiate these impa2025-01-01T00:00:00Z2025 May2026-06-05T15:53:31.695Z2026-06-05T03:06:24.322ZS-EPMC121308924038862510.1073/pnas.2401626122