2:00pm
Regulation of Liability For Risks of Physical Injury From “Sophisticated Robots”
F. Patrick Hubbard
Discussant: Samir Chopra

 

Chopra

• Problem scenario: injuries caused by “emergent behavior” from coordinated robot behavior.
• Problems concerning defectiveness of design and causation- very difficult and tricky business
• Tort Approaches- fault in design (cost-benefit teset) or coded implementation (strict liability). Difficulty in allocating fault among multiple component suppliers. Plaintiffs might petition legislatures to ease burden of proof
• Respondeat Superior- are robots owned? legal agents? should robots be liable in tort?
• Legislative approaches- federal standards, preempt — Agency capture.
• Licensing regimes.