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van den Hoven van Genderen, Robert --- "Legal personhood in the age of artificially intelligent robots" [2018] ELECD 1410; in Barfield, Woodrow; Pagallo, Ugo (eds), "Research Handbook on the Law of Artificial Intelligence" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018) 213

Book Title: Research Handbook on the Law of Artificial Intelligence

Editor(s): Barfield, Woodrow; Pagallo, Ugo

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN: 9781786439048

Section: Chapter 8

Section Title: Legal personhood in the age of artificially intelligent robots

Author(s): van den Hoven van Genderen, Robert

Number of pages: 38

Abstract/Description:

This chapter addresses several challenging questions for legal systems: Will the developers of AI and Robots be the new Oppenheimers? How can we control the development of AI? Is the embedding of AI and Robotics in our legal system a viable solution or will AI create its own legal system; and will we turn into objects instead of subjects? Further, will the development of autonomous systems create ‘killer robots’, as warned against by several scholars and leaders of industry? Given these concerns, do we have to stop all further innovation of AI to save mankind? Or is it acceptable to integrate AI fully in our society and therefore also in our legal system? As always is the case with new technological developments there is a fear for the negative aspect of introducing AI and robotics throughout society. Loss of jobs, loss of control and ultimately fear for the future of mankind are issues associated with the introduction of AI into society. Leaving the power politics behind us, we have to come back to the question- if and how we can regulate these technological developments. Until now the law has been developed by humans, for humans and—initially—to rule the relations between natural persons and later on artificial legal persons. But many things have changed during the development of the law, in the long journey from the Roman legal system to our modern legal system. New technologies will change society and will reflect on the change of this legal framework. Such issues are the focus of this chapter.