{"id":3478,"date":"2015-05-11T12:00:26","date_gmt":"2015-05-11T12:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ncjolt.org\/?p=3478"},"modified":"2020-06-04T20:53:36","modified_gmt":"2020-06-04T20:53:36","slug":"ecstasy-robots-frankenstein-and-self-driving-cars-a-call-for-legislation-on-inventor-responsibilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/blogs\/ecstasy-robots-frankenstein-and-self-driving-cars-a-call-for-legislation-on-inventor-responsibilities\/","title":{"rendered":"Ecstasy Robots, Frankenstein, and Self-Driving Cars: A Call for Legislation on Inventor Responsibilities"},"content":{"rendered":"

If a robot commits an act (either crime or tort) the creator did not intend \u2013 should the creator be held responsible? \u00a0In January, 2015, Swiss police decided not to punish a group of \u201cartists\u201d whose robotic art installation purchased random items from the internet each week.\u00a0 The robot purchased<\/a> a Hungarian passport, \u201cfake Diesel jeans, a Sprite can with a hole cut out in order to stash cash, Nike trainers, a baseball cap with a hidden camera, cigarettes and the “Lord of the Rings” e-book collection.\u201d\u00a0 But the issue arose when the robot purchased ecstasy pills, which are illegal in Switzerland.\u00a0 Police did not press charges against the artists because they \u201cdecided the Ecstasy that is in this presentation was safe and nobody could take it away. [The art group] never intended to sell it or consume it so we didn’t punish them.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

The issue arose when the robot purchased ecstasy pills, which are illegal in Switzerland.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Would police in the United States be so lenient?\u00a0 21 U.S.C. \u00a7844<\/a> criminalizes mere possession of controlled narcotics. The exact wording is \u201cknowingly or intentionally to possess<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0 In the Swiss example, the collection of items was being displayed in an art museum as an artistic interpretation of \u201cdark web online shopping.\u201d\u00a0 Had this occurred in the United States it is possible that criminal charges could have been pressed against the museum for knowingly possessing the Ecstasy.
\nBut the idea of an inventor dealing with the ramifications of his or her inventions is far from novel.\u00a0 In Mary Shelley\u2019s Frankenstein<\/em>, Dr. Frankenstein creates a \u201cmonster\u201d of various body parts.\u00a0 After giving the \u201cmonster\u201d life, the monster requested that the Doctor create a bride for him.\u00a0 Dr. Frankenstein acquiesced creating a monster bride\u2014but killed it for fear of creating a race of monsters.\u00a0 As vengeance the monster killed Dr. Frankenstein\u2019s wife.\u00a0 This notion of creators and inventors dealing with the ramifications of their experiments is far from uncommon in literature (for another fun story read Isaac Asimov\u2019s I, Robot<\/em>).
\nThere are many corporations around the world working on robots and artificial intelligence.\u00a0 The notion of who is responsible for the robot will be an increasing issue, which should be addressed by legislation.\u00a0 One issue is in regards to self-driving cars, and who is responsible for the car\u2019s actions.\u00a0 (The Geneva Convention has already noted that every vehicle should have a driver who is at all times able to control the vehicle.)<\/a>\u00a0 But, if a fully autonomous vehicle<\/em> (operating without driver input or even a driver) is at fault in a collision with another vehicle is the car company, the owner, or the rider responsible for the collision?\u00a0 Arguably, if the rider cannot have any input over the car, they should not be held responsible (as it would be similar to a taxi).\u00a0 So then will the car\u2019s manufacturer, responsible for the entirety of the programming, navigation, and steering, assume all responsibility for every autonomous vehicle it produces?
\nAnother similar issue is faced with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones) \u2013 there are certain UAVs on the commercial market that the user only indicates on a digital map where the UAV is to fly.\u00a0 If the UAV deviates from the flight path planned by the user due to faulty programming and causes some harm \u2013 should the company be to blame?
\nThe development of robots will raise a variety of unique legal questions.\u00a0 Is a crime a robot commits attributable to the inventor?\u00a0 What standard will we apply to intent crimes \u2013 committed by a robot?\u00a0 Must the inventor assume all of the robots possible actions and specifically prevent each illegal outcome?\u00a0 These questions should be addressed sooner rather than later to ensure inventors know their legal responsibilities and liabilities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If a robot commits an act (either crime or tort) the creator did not intend \u2013 should the creator be held responsible? \u00a0In January, 2015, Swiss police decided not to punish a group of \u201cartists\u201d whose robotic art installation purchased random items from the internet each week.\u00a0 The robot purchased a Hungarian passport, \u201cfake Diesel …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3479,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[51],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3478"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3478"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3478\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7334,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3478\/revisions\/7334"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}