Robots, Autonomous Systems, AI, and the Debate About a Limited Form of Legal Personality
Amedeo Santosuosso · Frontiers in artificial intelligence and applications · 2023
It is possible that there are good reasons not to recognise a legal personality for autonomous systems, but there are none for not deepening the debate. On 16 February 2017, the European Parliament asked the Commission to explore the possibility of recognising a specific legal status for robots, so that at least the most sophisticated autonomous robots could be held as electronic persons liable for compensation for the damage they cause. The reaction has been one of complete closure. However, there are several good reasons to critically re-examine the reasons for this opposition in the light of both civil and criminal liability.