Robots, Robotics, and the Law

Christopher Williams*, Kai Liu

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book or Report/Conference proceedingConference Proceedingpeer-review

Abstract

This paper will explore the critical issues of robots, robotics, and legal liability. It will approach this topic by using Asimov’s Three Laws of Robots and then proceed by examining how the existing areas of civil law like contracts, torts and agency will approach adjudicating claims brought against robots. The first question to be considered is whether a robot has autonomy like a human being to engage in voluntary acts or is a robot a programable machine owned and controlled by humans. Does a robot know the difference between right and wrong? These are critical ethical considerations necessary for any discussion about legal liability. Since this is an evolving and dynamic area of comparative law, it should be a stimulating discussion that challenges many assumptions and stretches our imaginations.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationRobot Intelligence Technology and Applications 8 - Results from the 11th International Conference on Robot Intelligence Technology and Applications
EditorsAnwar P.P. Abdul Majeed, Eng Hwa Yap, Pengcheng Liu, Xiaowei Huang, Anh Nguyen, Wei Chen, Ue-Hwan Kim
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Pages354-358
Number of pages5
ISBN (Print)9783031706837
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024
Event11th International Conference on Robot Intelligence Technology and Applications, RiTA 2023 - Taicang, China
Duration: 6 Dec 20238 Dec 2023

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Networks and Systems
Volume1132 LNNS
ISSN (Print)2367-3370
ISSN (Electronic)2367-3389

Conference

Conference11th International Conference on Robot Intelligence Technology and Applications, RiTA 2023
Country/TerritoryChina
CityTaicang
Period6/12/238/12/23

Keywords

  • and agency
  • contracts
  • insurance
  • Issac Asimov
  • law
  • negligence
  • robotics
  • robots

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