The Expert Group's report on liability for artificial intelligence and other emerging digital technologies: A critical assessment

Abstract

This article offers a critical discussion of the Report on Liability for Artificial Intelligence and Other Emerging Digital Technologies released by the Expert Group on Liability and New Technologies. In particular, the authors consider: the excessive diversity of applications encompassed through the notion of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies; the distinction between high- and low-risk applications as a potential source of legal uncertainty; the primary reliance on evidentiary rules over substantive ones; the problematic role attributed to safety rules; the unclear relationship between the Product Liability Directive and other ad hoc liability regimes; the radical exclusion of electronic personhood as a way of addressing liability issues; and the limited contextualisation of compulsory insurance and no-compensation funds.