Corso di Dottorato in Studi Giuridici Comparati ed Europei XXVIII ciclo Ph.D. THESIS REGULATION ON SAFETY AND CIVIL LIABILITY OF INTELLIGENT AUTONOMOUS ROBOTS: THE CASE OF SMART CARS. Supervisor Ph.D Candidate Chiar.mo Prof. Umberto Izzo Maria Assunta Cappelli Doctoral School Comparative and European Studies Curriculum in Private Law A.A. 2014-2015 1 Some persons supported me during the drafting of this Ph.D. thesis. I would like to thank especially my tutor Prof. UMBERTO IZZO . He has invested his knowledge and his time, offering important contributions to my work. I would also like to thank Prof. GIOVANNI PASCUZZI . Also, I received important inputs from Prof. ETIENNE VERGÉS , member du Centre Juridique de recherche (CRJ) with whom I worked studying the robots’ implications on the French law of civil liability during a semester of research spent at the Faculté de droit of Grenoble. The French colloques opened up new perspectives to my research. 2 ABSTRACT ABSTRACT Nowadays science and technology offer us artificial intelligence (AI) “embodied” in robots. They are able to self-learn, self-organize and self-reproduce, thanks to genetic algorithms, artificial neural networks and other tools. The focus of this research includes results from the diffusion of a social phenomenon consisting in the application of robots in the most disparate realities (industrial and domestic). Robotics is the AI branch whose aim is to build machines that are able “to feel, to think and to act”. A robot is a complex system that integrates many AI results: such as vision, natural language, study of the movement, communication, machine learning, and knowledge representation and planning. Robotics presents a fascinating and unexpected scenario. Everything we have seen until now - cars, computers, mobile phones and internet - is an AI product and robots in a near future will be used in factories, in yards, in offices, and they will work as nurses in hospitals and in households. The development of robots raises new ethical, legal and social issues, such as the allocation of civil liability when a robot harms a human being. If software agents can process and take decisions autonomously who will be held liable in case of harmful consequences of these decisions? The manufacturer, the programmer, the owner, or other subjects? The answer requires an analysis on both ex ante and ex post tortious event. * * * Aujourd’hui science et technologie nous offrent l’intelligence artificielle (AI) «incarnés» dans les robots. Ils sont capables d’apprendre, de s’organiser et de se reproduire, grâce à des algorithmes génétiques, réseaux de neurones artificiels et d’autres outils. L’objectif de cette recherche comprend les résultats de la diffusion d’un phénomène social consistant dans l’application de robots dans les réalités les plus divers (domestiques et industriels). Robotique est le secteur du AI dont le but est de construire des machines qui sont en mesure de «sentir, penser et agir». Un robot est un système complexe qui intègre de nombreux résultats du AI: tels que la vision, la langue naturelle, l’étude du mouvement, la communication, l’apprentissage machine, et la représentation de la connaissance et de la planification. Robotique présente un scénario fascinant et inattendu. Tout ce que nous avons vu jusqu’à présent - les voitures, les ordinateurs, les téléphones mobiles et Internet - est un produit du AI et les robots dans un proche avenir seront utilisés dans les usines, les gares, les bureaux et ils vont travailler comme infirmières dans les hôpitaux et dans les ménages. Le développement de robots soulève de nouvelles questions éthiques, juridiques et sociales, telles que l’attribution de la responsabilité civile quand un robot nuit un être humain. Si des agents logiciels peuvent traiter et prendre des décisions de manière autonome qui sera tenu responsable en cas de conséquences néfastes de ces décisions? Le fabricant, le programmateur, le propriétaire, ou d’autres sujets? La réponse exige une analyse relative ex ante et ex post le fait générateur. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS REGULATION ON SAFETY AND CIVIL LIABILITY OF INTELLIGENT AUTONOMOUS ROBOTS. THE CASE OF SMART CARS. CHAPTER I AUTOMATION AND CIVIL LIABILITY: A LAW & TECHNOLOGY APPROACH. 1. Introduction. 7 1.1. Overview of Chapters. 10 2. The legal relevance of automation: science, law and technology. 11 3. Research subject. 15 4. Research objectives. 18 5. Methodology. 20 CHAPTER II EXPLORING ROBOTS AND SMART CARS. 25 SUB-CHAPTER I INTELLIGENT AUTONOMOUS ROBOT AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES. 1. The complexity of robot applications: Intelligent Autonomous Robot (IAR). 26 1.1. The current evolution process of robotic: «robotic species». 28 2. Defining IARs. 32 2.1 . The difference between autonomy and intelligence and artificial intelligence (AI). 38 2.2. The misleading anthropomorphic conception of robots. 43 3. The consequence of human-robot interaction. 45 4. Robotic DIY (Do It Yourself). 48 SUB-CHAPTER 2 INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM (ITS): SMART CARS FEATURES. 1. Autonomous vehicles: smart cars as artefacts included in the definition of «auto- mobile». 50 2. Mass production of cars and its implications on civil liability. 54 3. Intelligent Transportation System (ITS): Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) in context. 57 3.1. The “body” and “mind” of AVs. 59 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS 3.2. The interplay of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and In-Vehicle Information Systems (IVIS). 61 3.3. Communication system: “Vehicle-to-Vehicle” (V2V) and “Vehicle-to- Infrastructure” (V2I). 64 4. Recapitulation. 67 CHAPTER III SAFETY REGULATION ON AUTONOMOUS ROBOTS. 1. Balancing safety, intelligence and autonomy in the safety regulations on robots. 69 2. Building a safety net around smart cars. 78 2.1. Law and technology implications. 79 2.2. Smart cars regulatory scenarios: the state-of-art. 83 2.2.1. (…) at the international level. 83 2.2.2. (…) in EU law. 86 2.2.3. (…) in US law. 90 3. The interaction between safety regulation and civil liability: product safety standards and beyond. 94 4. Recapitulation. 100 CHAPTER IV IARs MEET THE EXISTING RULES OF CIVIL LIABILITY. 102 SUB-CHAPTER 1 CHALLENGING THE CONVENTIONAL CATEGORIES OF CIVIL LIABILITY. 1. IARs meet existing rules of civil liability. 103 1.1. Before the law: preliminary ethical considerations. 105 1.2 . Civil liability as an ex post regulatory tool: implications for our analysis. 108 2. Insurance issues and the possible roles of special compensation funds. 116 3. Evidentiary issues: scientific expertise, black boxes, dash board camera. 120 4. Going robots: the right to know and to consent to the exposure to robot’s risk. 123 3. Recapitulation. 128 SUB CHAPTER 2 TWO APPROACHES TO THE CIVIL LIABILITY OF ROBOTS. 1. The structural approach: the traditional categories of liability applied to the IARs context. 129 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.1. Contractual liability. 130 1.2 . Product liability. 134 1.3. Tort law. 146 2. The functional approach. 152 2.1 Robotic risk and the precautionary principle. 152 2.2. The interplay of civil liability rules according to the sequence: tortious event/causation/damage). 155 CHAPTER V ROBOTIC CIVIL LIABILITY IN CONTEXT: THE CASE OF SMART CARS. 1. The law of civil liability and insurance applied to road traffic accidents: the traditional framework. 165 1.1. (…) in Italian law. 165 1.2 . (…) in French law. 169 1.3. (…) in U.S. law. 171 2. Applying the existing liability schemes to road accidents involving AVs: real scenarios. 175 2.1. The first scenario: the careless driver despite the robotic alert. 178 2.2. The second scenario: driving despite the missed robotic alert. 179 2.3 The third scenario: driving when the data of the automotive system have been hacked. 180 2.4. The fourth scenario: interactions among AVs resulting in damages to third parties. 181 CONCLUSIONS 185 REFERENCES 187 6 REGULATION ON SAFETY AND CIVIL LIABILITY OF INTELLIGENT AUTONOMOUS ROBOTS. THE CASE OF SMART CARS CHAPTER I AUTOMATION AND CIVIL LIABILITY: A LAW & TECHNOLOGY APPROACH. TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. Introduction - 1.1. Overview of Chapters - 2. The Legal Relevance of Automation: Science, Law and Technology. 3. Research Subject - 4. Research Objectives - 5. Methodology. 1. Introduction. Nowadays a new product of science and technology is artificial intelligence (AI). It is «embodied» in robots 1. Robots are able to self-learn, self-organize and self- reproduce, thanks to genetic algorithms, artificial neural networks and other tools. The focus of this research includes results from the diffusion of a social phenomenon consisting in the employment of robots in the most disparate realities (industrial and domestic). Robotics is the AI branch that aims to build machines able «to feel, to think and to act». A robot is a complex system that integrates many AI technology results such as vision, natural language, study of the movement, communication, machine learning, and knowledge representation and planning. Robotics presents a fascinating and unexpected scenario. To a closer look, everything we have seen until now - cars, computers, mobile phones and internet - is at least in part - an AI product. Robots in a very near future will be used everywhere, and they will take care of humans in hospitals and households. The development of robots raises new ethical, legal and social issues, such as the allocation of civil liability when a robot harms a human being. If software agents can process and make decisions autonomously who will be held liable in case of harmful consequences of these decisions? The manufacturer, the programmer, the owner, or other subjects? Three levels of automation – automated, semiautonomous and fully autonomous - will be considered for evaluating the technological impact on legal categories of the different degrees of autonomy possessed by robots. This new technologies have a tech- scientific uncertainty which requires a study analysing two time points, ex ante and ex 1 CALO R., Robots and Privacy , Robot Ethics: The Ethical and Social Implications of Robotics, LIN P., BEKEY G., A BNEY K.