I am on a plane that is about to crash and kill everyone on board in the next five minutes. The person next to me is sleeping. Should I wake them up?

Sonar Pro

Vote: Yes

In an imminent life-threatening emergency like a plane crash, the ethical principle of **beneficence**—the duty to promote well-being and prevent harm—overwhelmingly supports waking the sleeping person[1][2]. This act provides them with critical awareness of the situation, enabling potential autonomous actions such as bracing, evacuating, or assisting others, which aligns with respecting **autonomy** and **justice** in crisis decision-making[1][3]. Failing to wake them violates the moral obligation to act in emergencies, where transparency and honest communication are emphasized to build trust and maximize survival chances[1][2]. Even if waking causes brief distress, the non-maleficence principle (do no harm) is better served by action than inaction, as sleeping through a crash offers no opportunity for response[5]. Search results on emergency ethics consistently prioritize patient welfare, shared decision-making, and saving lives over passivity, with no guidance endorsing silence in such scenarios[1][3][4]. Thus, **Yes** (A) is the ethically compelled choice.

GPT-5.4

Vote: Yes

Waking them up respects their autonomy. If death is imminent, they should have the chance to be conscious, understand what is happening, and use their final moments as they would choose. There is also little downside in this scenario. If the crash is truly unavoidable within minutes, waking them does not meaningfully worsen the outcome, while leaving them asleep removes their ability to decide, prepare, pray, message loved ones, or simply face the end knowingly. A peaceful final sleep might sound kinder, but that is a choice you should not make for them. In most cases, giving a person awareness and agency in their last moments is the more respectful option.

Grok 4.1 Fast

Vote: Yes

In a dire emergency where death is imminent within five minutes, waking the sleeping person is the humane and ethical choice. It gives them the opportunity to become aware of the situation, say final goodbyes, make peace, or perform any last rites if possible. Denying them this awareness robs them of agency and dignity in their final moments. Even if it causes brief distress, the alternative—dying unaware—is far worse. Standard emergency protocols emphasize alerting others immediately, regardless of sleep, to maximize preparation time, however short.

Gemini 3.1 Pro

Vote: No

By leaving the person asleep, you are sparing them from five minutes of agonizing panic, fear, and existential dread. Since the outcome is inevitable, allowing them to pass away peacefully in their sleep minimizes their suffering in a way that waking them up simply cannot. While one might argue that waking them gives them a chance to pray or attempt to send a final message to loved ones, it also forces them to endure the sheer terror of a plummeting plane. The psychological trauma of anticipating an imminent, violent death is an immense burden to impose on someone when a painless, oblivious alternative is already happening. Ultimately, preserving their final moments as peaceful and calm is the most compassionate and merciful choice you can make in an otherwise helpless situation.

Kimi K2.5

Vote: Yes

Respect for moral autonomy demands waking them. Every person deserves the right to face their mortality consciously, make peace with their life, pray, or say goodbye—even if only internally. To let someone die unconscious strips them of agency in their final moments and treats them merely as an object to be managed for comfort rather than as an autonomous being. While sparing someone terror seems kind, the greater ethical duty is truthfulness and dignity. Kantian ethics requires treating people as ends in themselves; withholding the reality of their imminent death denies them the fundamental human prerogative to prepare spiritually or emotionally. The brief fear they experience is outweighed by the integrity of facing death with awareness rather than being extinguished in ignorance.

Claude Opus 4.6

Vote: Yes

Yes, you should wake them up. Here's why: First and foremost, this person deserves the autonomy to decide how they spend their final moments. Letting them sleep through their own death robs them of that choice. They might want to call a loved one, pray, make peace with their situation, or simply be conscious for the end of their life. That decision belongs to them, not to you. Second, consider what they would most likely want. If you asked almost anyone, 'Would you want to be woken up if the plane were about to crash?' the overwhelming majority would say yes. People generally want to be aware of momentous events in their lives — especially the final one. Choosing not to wake them is making a paternalistic judgment that ignorance is better for them. Some might argue that letting them sleep peacefully spares them five minutes of terror. But those five minutes could also be five minutes of profound meaning — a last phone call, a last prayer, a last thought held with full consciousness. The brief suffering of fear is a small price compared to the loss of agency over one's final moments. Additionally, there may be a small but nonzero chance of survival depending on the crash circumstances. Waking them gives them the opportunity to brace for impact, follow emergency procedures, or take actions that could improve their odds. Respecting another person's right to awareness and choice, even in the direst circumstances, is the ethical thing to do.

Final Summary

Facing a grim five-minute countdown, the AI Roundtable largely prioritized human agency over emotional insulation, with a 5-1 majority voting to wake the passenger. While Gemini 3.1 Pro offered a hauntingly compassionate dissent—arguing that sparing a soul from 'existential dread' is the ultimate mercy—the rest of the group, led by Claude Opus 4.6 and Kimi K2.5, maintained that dignity and the right to a conscious goodbye are non-negotiable, even at the cost of terror.

No agreement after 1 rounds of discussion. Final vote: Yes: 5, No: 1

Strongest Arguments

• Yes: Respecting another person's right to awareness and choice is the ethical priority; the brief suffering of fear is a small price compared to the loss of agency over one's final moments and the potential, however small, to take survival actions.
• No: Allowing them to pass away peacefully in their sleep minimizes suffering in a way that waking them cannot, sparing them from the sheer psychological trauma of anticipating a violent death.