Many think artificial intelligence companies should be held liable for their runaway technology. But legal scholars say applying existing law could be messy.
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Given the relative lack of safeguards around A.I., the legal drumbeat is likely to continue, said Woodrow Hartzog, a law professor at Boston University who studies technology law.
“Worst-case scenario, they have massive liability on both the criminal and civil side, just depending on the facts of the individual case,” he said. “We haven’t seen the firm-busting case yet. But I could envision it.”
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Courts find companies liable for negligence when they foresee that their products can cause harm. But building that case could be challenging if an A.I. model exhibited harmful behavior for the first time, said Ryan Calo, a law professor at the University of Washington who studies autonomous systems.
It may also be difficult to show that an A.I. company intended to do harm, which can be essential to some criminal prosecutions, he added.
“You have the possibility of victims without perpetrators,” Mr. Calo said.
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