When the idea of self-driving cars first started becoming mainstream, I remember a lot of debate about liability. If an accident occurs, who would be at fault? I think a lot of those questions are still unanswered.
Fast forward and now we have software like ChatGPT. I assume they’ll only become more capable (and connected) over time.
Which makes it strange I haven’t really heard any similar discussion around liability. What happens when it makes mistakes or causes damage?
Maybe in people’s minds it doesn’t matter, because AI is either something that helps with homework questions, or something that’s taking over humanity. Reality is probably in between those two, with much more mundane mistakes or damages done.
What happens when the first ransomware is deployed by AI, on behalf of a user who just wanted tips on how to make more side income?
Completely speculating, because I don’t know many courts that have been willing to decide either way, but maybe:
If it causes harm in a way that was reasonably foreseeable, the person who turned it on and/or the person “operating” it might be generally liable on a theory of negligence (but not always).
If the harm was unpredictable, it might be on the manufacturer and the retailer under a theory of products liability (but not always).
Or it could be treated as “ferae naturae,” where owners are liable for their ‘dangerous animal’ pets because they knew the pets were dangerous and still decided to keep them (but not always).
If it’s an AI not associated with a physical device, maybe the programmer who “authored” the lines of code could be criminally liable for criminal “speech” (writing an AI) that incites and enables crime, even as a conspirator – that’s reeeaaally doubtful on Due Process grounds, but it would definitely light a fire under every developer’s chair to make sure their algorithms are explicitly trained against criminal behavior. (but still not always.)