Legal Research Guide

to
Artificial Intelligence
and
Legal Personhood

by Bethany Brashears

Candidate for Juris Doctor ‘20, Stetson University College of Law

Last Updated November 24, 2019

i
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................................1
1. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE.................................................................................................................................1
2. RESEARCH GUIDE OVERVIEW (ROADMAP): ...........................................................................................................1
2. RESEARCH STRATEGY AND SCOPE OF THIS GUIDE .................................................................................................2
3. KEYWORDS AND KEY PHRASES USED IN SEARCH: ................................................................................................3
4. GENERAL RESEARCH DATABASES .........................................................................................................................3
II. DEFINITIONS, INTERPRETATIONS, AND POLICIES OF “ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE” ..............4
1. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE INCONSISTENCY OF DEFINITIONS ................................................................................4
2. TOP SOURCES PROVIDING DEFINITIONS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE .................................................................4
a) Fundamental Protections for Non-Biological Intelligences or: How We Learn to Stop Worrying and
Love Our Robot Brethren .....................................................................................................................................4
b) Robots and Minds: Machine Consciousness ..............................................................................................4
3. TOP SOURCES PROVIDING ANALYSIS AND DESCRIPTION OF AI FUNCTIONS ..........................................................5
1) .......................................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2) ....................................................................................................................................................................5
3) The Turing Test – a means to determine machine consciousness: ...................................................................5
4) Do Androids Dream? – What if a computer requests to be treated like a person, not property? ....................5
6) .................................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
7) .................................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
8) .................................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
9) .................................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
10). ................................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
4. SECONDARY SOURCES ...........................................................................................................................................5
a) Law Review Articles.........................................................................................................................................5
b) News Articles/ Media .......................................................................................................................................6
c) Philosophy/ Psychology ...................................................................................................................................6
d) Engineering and Technology ...........................................................................................................................6
5. ADMINISTRATIVE MATERIALS ...............................................................................................................................6
a) Federal.............................................................................................................................................................7
b) State .................................................................................................................................................................7
6. STATUTES AND LEGISLATION ................................................................................................................................7
a) Federal Statutes and Congressional bills ........................................................................................................7
b) State Statutes....................................................................................................................................................8
7. CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH REPORTS AND OTHER RESOURCES ...........................................................................9
a) Library of Congress Report: The Regulation of Artificial Intelligence in selected Jurisdictions ....................9
b) “Overview of Artificial Intelligence” CRS Report (Oct. 2017): ......................................................................9
c) Congressional Artificial Intelligence Caucus website .....................................................................................9
8. INTERNATIONAL LAW .......................................................................................................................................... 10
1. United Nations ............................................................................................................................................... 10
2. European Union ............................................................................................................................................. 10
3. United States Treaties with other Nations ...................................................................................................... 11
9. FOREIGN LAW ...................................................................................................................................................... 11
1. Library of Congress: Regulation of Artificial Intelligence in Selected Jurisdictions ..................................... 11
9. CASES .................................................................................................................................................................. 11
10. BOOKS AND PRINT MATERIALS ......................................................................................................................... 11
11. MISCELLANEOUS SOURCES ................................................................................................................................ 12
1) Snopes ............................................................................................................................................................ 12
III. PERSONHOOD STATUS .................................................................................................................................. 12
1. TOP SOURCES FOR PERSONHOOD STATUS FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE .......................................................... 13
1. Legal Personhood for Artificial Intelligences........................................................................................... 13

ii
 2. Vital, Sophia, and Co.—The Quest for the Legal Personhood of Robots ....................................................... 14
3. European Parliament Committee on Legal Affairs, Draft Report with recommendations to the Commission
on Civil Law Rules on Robotics. ....................................................................................................................... 14
4. Endowed by Their Creator–The Future of Constitutional Personhood ......................................................... 15
5. Artificial Agents – Personhood in Law and Philosophy ................................................................................ 16
6. Fundamental Protections for Non-Biological Intelligences or: How We Learn to Stop Worrying and Love
Our Robot Brethren ........................................................................................................................................... 16
7. .......................................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
8. .......................................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
9. .......................................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
10. ........................................................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
2. SECONDARY SOURCES ......................................................................................................................................... 16
a) Law Review .................................................................................................................................................... 17
b) News Articles/ Media ..................................................................................................................................... 17
c) Philosophy/ Psychology ................................................................................................................................. 17
3. FEDERAL STATUTES............................................................................................................................................. 17
4. STATE STATUTES ................................................................................................................................................. 17
5. FEDERAL AND STATE REGULATIONS ................................................................................................................... 17
6. INTERNATIONAL LAW .......................................................................................................................................... 17
1. Joint Resolutions on Citizenship or Policy..................................................................................................... 18
7. FOREIGN LAW APPROACHES TO PERSONHOOD AND POLICY ................................................................................ 18
8. CASES ABOUT PERSONHOOD AND POLICY FOR AI ............................................................................................... 18
9. BOOKS AND PRINT MATERIALS ON LEGAL PERSONHOOD FOR AI AND AI POLICY .............................................. 18
10. MISCELLANEOUS ............................................................................................................................................... 18
IV. ADVICE TO RESEARCHERS AND CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................. 18
1. ADVICE TO RESEARCHERS ................................................................................................................................... 18
2. CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................................................... 18

iii
 Legal Research Guide to Artificial
Intelligence and Legal Personhood Status
Bethany Brashears

I. INTRODUCTION

A. Background and Purpose

This article is a guide to legal research with the goal of assisting practitioners,
government officials, and other professionals who are interested in defining and understanding
artificial intelligence (AI) with the goal of regulating and policymaking. This legal research
guide discusses resources available to research the current state of the law in regard to artificial
intelligence and personhood status, legal issues that may arise, and approaches to take in
applying the resources to the issues. It is not intended to be comprehensive.
Artificial Intelligence is not clearly defined by any regulatory body, so it is left open to a
variety of interpretations by each industry, as well as by the perspective of the person defining it.
Those who define it by its current uses often refer to AI to include robots, smart cars, internet
searches, facial recognition software, railway management, social media advertisements, and
much more. However, artificial intelligence is much more than a series of products, and as it
continues to advance it will be involved in every aspect of our lives.
Those looking towards the future describe the possibility of AI reaching “sentience,” a
level of capacity that mirrors human self-consciousness and awareness so closely that it may
deserve legal protections. Hypothetically, if this were to occur, we will need to have already
made decisions about what constitutes AI, as well as implemented ethical code in every
algorithm. Many will argue on behalf of the AI that something so human-like requires the same
protections as humans. Others will argue that AI is ultimately a machine, and the emotions are
just code that mimics human behavior without being harmed. AI will, at that point, need to
already be clearly defined and regulated, which is something that is at best in its infancy
globally.

B. Research Guide Overview (Roadmap):

Section I of this guide introduces the topic, limits the scope of the research described, and
details the phrases and research strategies generally used as a starting point.
Section II gives descriptions of different definitions and interpretations of “Artificial
Intelligence” proffered by various governmental and non-governmental entities, and will discuss
some legal and social implications of different definitions. It will provide best practices for
locating sources and how to update research. It will also give describe policies adopted by
different entities, many of which could potentially affect how AI might be defined and regulated.
Section III of this guide will discuss legal personhood status and “moral” personhood,
with some conclusions on the relationship between the two issues for context in shaping policies.

1
Secondary sources appear the most in this section, but there is significant case law regarding
legal personhood status for corporations and certain intelligent animals that is relevant to this
topic by analogy and in application. In this section, the phrase “electronic personhood,” or “e-
personhood,” is borrowed from a recent EU regulatory body recommendation,1 but this is only
intended to describe the rights and duties that would be assigned to an AI, not to misrepresent
this as a commonly used or accepted phrase in the law.
Section IV will wrap up the overall findings, identify potential regulations to look out for,
and give advice to the practitioner or professional researching this topic on some sources that
were unhelpful or inefficient.
For definitions of artificial intelligence, there is limited legislative or jurisprudential
guidance to give a clear definition of AI, especially in the U.S. Some agencies, regulatory bodies
and committees have proposed definitions and standards, which serve the purpose of defining the
scope of the document. These are typically limited definitions, not the inclusive language used in
most fields that are highly regulated. More in-depth definitions come from persuasive secondary
sources written by interested parties, in fields like law, technology, and philosophy and
psychology. Through these sources, AI is thoroughly examined from many angles to define what
constitutes AI, what factors are involved in determining if an AI artifact has reached the level of
“consciousness” previously considered only human, the implications of that distinction, and how
we can determine if the AI is truly “conscious” or simply accurately mimicking human emotion
and behavior.
Regarding legal personhood status, there are a lot more regulations and jurisprudence to
explain what the distinction is intended to achieve (imposing rights or duties) and how that
process can be achieved, though nothing was uncovered regarding AI and personhood in the U.S.
There is a good deal of information on how other nations have approached the issue, so research
strategies for foreign law are detailed. Secondary sources on the specific subject of legal
personhood status and AI have been common since 1992.
Moral personhood is a different subject, as its core it asks, “What does it mean to be
human?” It has not received mention in government, likely because the idea of the “soul” is so
engrained in religious and spiritual ideologies that broaching the topic might be argued
interference with the separation of church and state. However, there is some judicial dicta that
could be helpful if this appears in courts before in legislation. The importance of this subject is

C. Research Strategy and Scope of this Guide

The focus of the research strategy defined in this guide was 1) to collect the various
definitions of Artificial Intelligence by different actors in the field, in order to develop the legal
definition of AI that should be used in future governance and regulation; 2) to define what
benchmarks in AI development would trigger different applications of governance, such as civil
liability or punishment theories; 3) to define if and when an AI has advanced far enough beyond
the will of its creator that it might be eligible for a recognized independent legal status; and 4) to

1
European Parliament Committee on Legal Affairs, Draft Report with recommendations to the Commission on Civil
Law Rules on Robotics, PE582.443v01-00 (http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/JURI-PR-
582443_EN.pdf?redirect).

2
better understand why the U.S. has limited governance in the areas, by studying the moral
objections or resistance to AI receiving its own set of legal rights and duties (legal personhood
status).
While some of the research strategies and sources highlight specific areas of governance,
such as the regulations for self-driving cars, robots, or autonomous military weapons, these are
not intended to be an exhaustive list of regulations for “smart-tech”, AI development, AI uses, or
even liability for programmers. Most of these sources are included to show modern trends for
regulations or the justifications given for limiting or expanding liability.
This article is intended to detail the most useful resources to find out more information on
the topics of artificial intelligence laws and personhood status. Because of limited legislation and
broad interpretations of these topics, some substantive explanations will accompany the sources
regarding implications of the findings for the category and inferences contemplated when
creating the guide.
The specific categories below contain instructions for the independent researcher to find
the same information included here, and useful tips and guidance on what research methods were
most, or least, effective.
The sources specifically mentioned in this guide are included for the purpose of giving
readers examples found using the search methods provided or citations to build independent
research from. The facts and conclusions in the sources listed are not representative of the
opinions or beliefs of the author of this guide, and the guide does not guarantee legal or factual
accuracy of the sources.
Nothing in this guide should be considered legal advice, legal conclusions, or statements
of law. There is no invitation for reliance on any information in this guide.

D. Keywords and Key Phrases Used in Search:

 Artificial Intelligence
 AI
 Intelligent Artifact
 Personhood
 Legal Personhood
 Moral Personhood
 Sentient Beings/ Sentience
 Autonomous Automation
 AI Agency
 Digital Human
 Siri
 Alexa

E. General Research Databases

Some source categories will describe research strategies that pertain to specific databases,
detailed in the corresponding sections. There are several general databases that locate resources
across the web, and many of the best resources came from these search engines.

3
 For each of the research categories below, in addition to any specifically described
methods, the key terms from Section I.3 were entered into paid websites, including Westlaw
Edge and Lexis Advance.
To identify government sources, an effective starting point is to perform a search across
all official government websites with the Google advanced search function,2 and enter “.gov”
into the field labeled “site or domain” for each key search term. This domain search can also be
used on any other website, such as state’s government pages or news media sites.
Because AI has such a smaller number of thought leaders or policymakers, the author of
an article or a person quoted is more likely than not to have more publications regarding the
topic, so a list of thought leaders is an invaluable resource as a starting point when updating
research.

II. DEFINITIONS, INTERPRETATIONS, AND POLICIES OF

“ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE”

A. Artificial Intelligence Inconsistency of Definitions

As described in the introduction, artificial intelligence is not uniformly defined, leaving it
open to an array of meanings and interpretations that have major legal implications in application
of regulations. This section will describe some explanations of AI that were uncovered in
research, how these sources were found, and how they can be monitored for future accuracy and
changes. Note how the different definitions by authors in various roles change based on the
purpose of the writing.

B. Top Sources Providing Definitions of Artificial Intelligence

Fundamental Protections for Non-Biological Intelligences or: How We Learn to
Stop Worrying and Love Our Robot Brethren3
“AI is broadly described as either: narrow AI (also referred to as "weak" or
applied AI), which carries out a function such as data processing; or artificial
general intelligence (AGI or "strong" AI), which is hypothetically capable of
"the whole domain of human thought." Artificial general intelligence that
surpasses "the best human brains in practically every field" would be
considered artificial superintelligence (ASI).”4
Robots and Minds: Machine Consciousness5
“Artificial Intelligence is, very crudely, the science of getting machines to
perform jobs that normally require intelligence and judgment.”

2
https://www.google.com/advanced_search
3
NOTE & COMMENT: Fundamental Protections for Non-Biological Intelligences or: How We Learn to Stop
Worrying and Love Our Robot Brethren, 19 Minn. J.L. Sci. & Tech. 305 (2018).
4 Id at 308.
5 Lycan

4
 C. Top Sources Providing Analysis and Description of AI Functions

The Turing Test7 – a means to determine machine consciousness:

In a landmark paper, published in 1950, Alan Turing asked, “Can Machines
think?” He proposed the way to solve this problem is through an “Imitation
Game,” where the AI is challenged to imitate a human so well that another
person cannot tell which one is human and which is machine.
Turing quite accurately described his hypothesis of how machines would
“learn” in the future, through teaching with “the use of punishments and
rewards” that teach imperatives to follow. He compared how the rules of
operation of the machine would change to how the nation adapts to the
Constitution.
Do Androids Dream? – What if a computer requests to be treated like a person, not
property?8

D. Secondary Sources
Law Review Articles
In addition to the sources listed above, there are thousands of law review articles that in
some way describe or mention artificial intelligence. In researching these articles, Google
Scholar and Westlaw/ Lexis are the best starting points. All three of these databases have
advanced search options that allow you to see how the origin source was cited. This has proved
the most effective way to find relevant sources related to the topic.
Some additional articles that are useful starting points for artificial intelligence resources,
using the strategies in (a) are:
Requiem for Humanity9: Bioengineered humans and social implications

6
7
A. M. Turing, Computing Machinery and Intelligence, 49 Mind 433 (1950).
8
F. Patrick Hubbard, “Do Androids Dream?”: Personhood and Intelligent Artifacts
9 Alan Hosher, Requiem for Humanity--Artificial Intelligence, Androids/ Biobots, Science 2.0 (Mar. 18, 2012),

(available at https://www.science20.com/requiem_humanity/blog/requiem_humanity_—
_artificial_intelligence_androidsbiobots-88082).

5
  Predicting that sentient robots will not be the next step in AI; instead,
within 50 years, wealthy humans will pay to utilize AI and genetics
innovations to become “Technology Augmented Bioengineered” beings,
which will cause social strife with the gross disparity in ability with
“standard” humans).
Humans and Humans+10

News Articles/ Media

asdl
Philosophy/ Psychology

Engineering and Technology

While there are countless articles about AI and technology, this section is purely
dedicated to articles originating from these industries regarding the law as it stands, and the need
for regulation. I found these articles through Google Scholar, from links in legal sources
referring to engineering journals, and from the Academic Search Premier database through the
Stetson Law website access.
Governing Artificial Intelligence: Ethical, Legal, and Technical Opportunities
and Challenges11 (Engineering Conference)
Accelerating AI with GPUs: A New Computing Model (Technology Blog)12
Discusses the rapid increase in computing power within this decade that could
move predictive models on AI development up. Regulations, or at least the
framework, need to be implemented well before technology outpaces it.

E. Administrative Materials
While the Google advanced domain search of government websites with “.gov” can be
effective for finding administrative regulations, searching for administrative agency regulations

10
Susan W. Brenner, Humans and Humans+: Technological Enhancement and Criminal Responsibility, 19 B.U.J.
Sci. & Tech. L. 215 (2013).
11 Corinne Cath, Governing Artificial Intelligence: Ethical, Legal and Technical Opportunities and Challenges. 376

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A. 1 (2018) (available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2018.0080).

12 Jensen Huang, Accelerating AI with GPUs: A New Computing Model, NVIDIA (Jan. 12, 2016), (available at

https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2016/01/12/acceleratingai-artificial-intelligence-gpus/).

6
and guidance on Westlaw and Lexis, which has headnotes and case law citations and other
helpful tools.
Federal

State
As with state statutes, there is surprisingly little regulation or even discussion at the state
level of AI regulations on a policy level. However, some progressive states have adopted certain
laws or policies regarding specific functions of AI, and some state agencies use AI in their
practices.
Florida’s Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission uses an AI model to
predict Red Tide.13
California14

F. Statutes and Legislation

There are no statutes that actually define AI, but there have been some proposals that
have at least been discussed and recommended to Committee.
Federal Statutes and Congressional bills
To date, no statutes have been passed involving artificial intelligence public policy.
On Congress’ website, you can search reports dating back as far as 1995, with
a useful search function. The main page provides Boolean terms specific to
the Congress website as well to help filter your search, giving the result of an
“advanced search” function. The “search within” checkbox allows you to
filter results by an additional key phrase that appears within the results.
Results: 113 reports mentioned “artificial intelligence,” mostly pertaining to
National Defense or Environmental development.
These are bills that have been introduced (with no further movement) into Congress to
date:
Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act (Introduced to Senate on 5/21/19)15
 Proposes establishing AI Advisory Committee within the Office of
Science and Technology Policy, a National AI Coordination Office, and

13
Steidinger, K.A., J.H. Landsberg, C.R. Tomas, and G.A. Vargo (Eds.). 2004. Harmful Algae 2002. Florida Fish
and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida Institute of Oceanography, and Intergovernmental Oceanographic
Commission of UNESCO, St. Petersburg, Florida, USA.
14
15
Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act, S.1558, 116th Cong. (2019).

7
 an Interagency Committee on AI to coordinate research, education and
programs of federal agencies;
 Proposes educational programs and grants;
 Proposes National Institute of Standards and Technology must develop
measures and standards to advance commercial development of AI
FUTURE of Artificial Intelligence Act of 201716 (Introduced to House on
5/22/18; referred to the Subcommittee on Research and Technology)

Supporting the Development of Guidelines for Ethical development of AI

(Introduced to House on 2/27/19, referred to House Committee on Science,
Space, and Technology)17
 Resolves that the House supports implementing guidelines for ethical AI
development, to engage among industries and government and increase
transparency of AI systems and accountability; and
 Includes goals of empowering women and minorities, protecting data
privacy, create jobs, STEM education, oversight for automated decision
making, increase access to technology, promote interdisciplinary
research, and ensure safety, security, and control of AI systems now and
the future
State Statutes
This section is included only to inform the reader that doing a search across all U.S.
states, there are no meaningful laws (to date) regarding the definition of AI or regulation of code.
There are some states with regulations of AI technology such as self-driving cars, medical
equipment, and data privacy, but none that are meaningful in this context.
There are excellent for free resources for state statutes, if you are researching a similar
area of law that has more guidance.
American Law Sources On-Line18
State Bar Association Home pages
National Conference of State Legislatures: State Legislative Websites
Directory19

16
FUTURE of Artificial Intelligence Act, H.Res. 4625, 115th Cong. (2018).
17
Supporting the Development of Guidelines for Ethical development of Artificial Intelligence, H.Res. 153, 116th
Cong. (2019).
18 Visit the ALSO! website at http://www.lawsource.com/also/.
19 Find the State Legislative Websites Directory at http://www.ncsl.org/aboutus/ncslservice/state-legislative-

websites-directory.aspx

8
 G. Congressional Research Reports and Other Resources
This section explains reports from the Congressional Research Service, established in
1914, that are used to guide Congressional decision making. The Office was created to dedicate
focused resources to collect research in various fields. Congressional research reports (“CRS
Report”)20 can be extremely useful for substantive statistics, as they not only channel to the
reader what the focus of the report is when crafting the language, but also gives the reader insight
into what information has been provided to our elected politicians.
The Library of Congress website has an extensive databases of reports, articles, and other
material. This includes materials that are prepared by our federal government, as well as data
reports from many other nations (often translated by our government).
Library of Congress Report: The Regulation of Artificial Intelligence in selected
Jurisdictions21
The Library of Congress Report is a compilation of data of the “emerging
regulatory and policy landscape surrounding artificial intelligence in
jurisdictions around the world.”
“Overview of Artificial Intelligence” CRS Report22 (Oct. 2017):
The Report refrains from settling on a definition of AI, but gives two
sentences that may guide legislation: 1) “Though definitions vary, AI can
generally be thought of as computerized systems that work and react in ways
commonly thought to require intelligence, such as solving complex problems
in real-world situations;” and 2) “the mechanisms underlying thought and
intelligent behavior and their embodiment in machines.” (No source given for
this quoted language).
The Report includes a non-exhaustive, noncommittal list of different types of
AI (machine learning (ML), deep learning, neural networks, robotics, machine
vision, and language processing), then provides a list of public and private
sectors that have AI applications.
The Report concludes with a half page of policy considerations, which loosely
states that more research, funding, and public/private partnership is needed,
and regulations should balance social and ethical risks of new technology with
an environment that supports AI innovation. The CRS Report does not state
the source of information by which it based its conclusions.
Congressional Artificial Intelligence Caucus website23

20 Search the Congressional Research Service database at https://crsreports.congress.gov.

21 Library of Congress, The Regulation of Artificial Intelligences in Selected Jurisdictions, Law Library of Congress
(Jan. 2019).
22 Congressional Research Service Report, Overview of Artificial Intelligence, Oct. 2017) (available at

https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF10608).
23 The Congressional Artificial Intelligence Caucus website (now inactive, but still accessible), is available at

https://artificialintelligencecaucus-olson.house.gov/about.

9
 The bipartisan Congressional AI Caucus was launched by Congressman John
K. Delaney, and the website remained relatively active during the remained of
his year in office, then has not been updated since, other than to update the list
of members.
The website’s launch article emphasized the urgency to regulate AI, but the
project seems to have been dropped since then.

H. International Law
First, it is important to understand the distinction in International Law and Foreign Law.
Foreign law relates only to the laws of other countries pertaining to their own citizens, those
present in the country, or transactions of their citizens. International Law is what governs
between nations. These are distinct types of law, and understanding which law governs
transactions or dealings will alter what the rules and regulations you are subjected to.
It is extremely important to be aware of agreements with other nations when utilizing AI
as a nation or a business in international transactions, to avoid violating any treaties or joint
resolutions. However, the context in which defining artificial intelligence may be necessary is
when nations are working together to improve global development. In March 2019 , a UN
committee announced plans to support capacity development efforts for least developed member
nations, using AI and Frontier technology to sustainably respond
United Nations
In the International law realm, the most rationale starting point is typically with the
United Nations, unless you are looking for another specific set of laws. While the UN only has as
much power as the member nations allow it, the various treaties, joint programs, and research
efforts have a lot of power and resources. The United Nations has collective information about
many issues globally, and so it has a lot of value as a resource.
For this category, a good starting point is the UN website, which has an excellent
Enterprise Search Engine that is still in beta that scans multiple international law sites.24 The
keyword “artificial intelligence” brought up 1,838 sources, which can be narrowed down by just
the UN website, official documents, Office of Administrative Justice, Security Council
repertoire, League of Nations, the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, or all social
media posts from the site members.
European Union
Another excellent resource is the EU official website, which offers English translations to
EU treaties, regulations, directives, other acts, and notes about application of EU law.25
One major difference in EU law language from US law is what constitutes primary and
secondary legislation. The treaties (primary legislation) are the basis or ground rules for all EU

24
United Nations Database Search website: https://search.un.org
25
The EU English site with links to https://europa.eu/european-union/law_en

10
action. Secondary legislation – which includes regulations, directives and decisions – are derived
from the principles and objectives set out in the treaties.
The website also has summaries of EU legislations, grouped into 32 policy fields and
topics, with links to the official versions of the acts.26
United States Treaties with other Nations
The U.S. Department of State has a database of all the treaties the US has with other
countries.27 Unfortunately, the search function is not as advanced as it is with some other
websites, but by entering “Artificial Intelligence” and “treaty”, the results include treaties with
several other nations as well as some press releases from State regarding meetings or
negotiations with some other nations.

I. Foreign Law
There are many ways to find information on foreign laws, such as visiting a nation’s
government website (click “EN” on most for English translations) or using General databases,
you can enter the name of a specific nation you are searching for and filter results with your
topic. The resources that were most useful in this current search were the Library of Congress
database and the United Nations and European Union directories.
Library of Congress: Regulation of Artificial Intelligence in Selected
Jurisdictions28
China: AI Governance Principles Released29 (9/09/2019)
Czech Republic: Government Adopts National Artificial Intelligence
Strategy30 (6/5/2019)
Estonia: Government Issues Artificial Intelligence Report31 (7/31/2019)

J. Cases

K. Books and Print Materials

There are so many excellent web resources for research now that books often get
overlooked or forgotten during legal research, but they are extremely useful and overall more
generally reliable than many sources on the web.

26
See the list of EU legislation summary topics at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/browse/summaries.html?locale=en
27
28
29
http://www.loc.gov/law/foreign-news/article/china-ai-governance-principles-released/
30
http://www.loc.gov/law/foreign-news/article/czech-republic-government-adopts-national-artificial-intelligence-
strategy/
31 http://www.loc.gov/law/foreign-news/article/estonia-government-issues-artificial-intelligence-report/

11
 Library Catalogs and Databases
Library catalogs and databases are a great place to find books relevant to your topic,
especially government or university law libraries. Many of these libraries have inter-library loan
agreements, so even if your local library does not have a needed book available, the reference
librarians may still be able to help.
These books were available in the Dolly & Homer Hand Law Library at Stetson
University College of Law:

The following was not available in the physical library, but through a library database I
was able to access the full text of the book:
The Law of Artificial Intelligence and Smart Machines : Understanding A.I.
and the Legal Impact / Theodore F. Claypoole, Editor.

L. Miscellaneous Sources
Some non-academic databases on the web also have useful resources, as long they are
evaluated with heightened awareness of bias, unvetted facts, and inaccurate depictions of law or
policy.
Snopes32
Snopes is a fact-checking _____ . This is an excellent resource for finding
out33

III. PERSONHOOD STATUS

A. Constitutional Personhood
Constitutional personhood, or legal personhood status, defines who is the subject and the
object of law.34 In 1845, a court mentioned that the protections of the 14th Amendment might
apply to a corporation.35 Since then, the meaning of legal personhood has been called into

32
Find this website by visiting https://www.snopes.com.
33
Snopes website FAQ: “What makes Snopes a reliable resource?” The response: “[W]e don’t expect anyone to
accept us as the ultimate authority on any topic. No single source, no matter how reliable, is infallible. Anyone can
make mistakes. Or get duped. Or have a bad day at the fact-checking bureau. However, unlike so many anonymous
individuals who create and spread unsigned, unsourced messages across the internet, we show our work on
Snopes.com.”
34 Stephen C. Hicks, On the Citizen and the Legal Person: Toward the Common Ground of Jurisprudence, Social

Theory, and Comparitive Law as the Premise of a Future Community, and the Role of the Self Therein, 59 U. Cin. L.
Rev. 789, 789 (1991).
35 1845 case about the railroad company already cited It should be noted that there was no written opinion in this

case, and that the rumors still note that the judge did not actually rule that the 14th amendment does in fact apply to
corporations.

12
question in a multitude of Constitutional issues, including animal rights,36 the legality of
abortion,37 prisoners of war,38 assisted suicide,39 removing life support in cases of irreversible
comas,40 severe mental incapacity,41 criminals with multiple personality disorder,42 and the death
penalty.43
Most of the focus of how to regulate AI focuses on how to protect humans from a number
of dangers, including breach of privacy, physical harm by autonomous robots or vehicles, errors
in programming that affect finances, job replacement, and autonomous weapons. However, the
possible impacts will reach further than that, as well as the possible sources of harm.
Legal Personhood Status
Some important questions that need to be asked (and answered) before the issues reach
the courts include:
Can AI be the proponent of a crime?
Could AI be the victim of a crime?
When should an AI have legal protections and legal duties?
If AI has legal protections, might it be protection from alterations by a
programmer, mistreatment by humans in its daily interactions, or disputes
with other AI artifacts?
If an AI has legal duties (ethical behavior, protecting human life, fiduciary
duties), how would we impose punishment for breach of duty? Would it be by
punishing the programmer, altering or deleting portion of code, reverting back
to previous version before the breach, or some type of digital death penalty?

B. Top Sources for Personhood Status for Artificial Intelligence

Legal Personhood for Artificial Intelligences44
This 1992 essay is often cited as the first legal analysis of whether an AI could
become a legal person. Despite knowing AI was still considered science
fiction, or at least many decades away from reality, Solum started a

36
animal rights
37 abortion
38 Prisoners of War
39 assisted suicide
40 Joseph S. Bell, Schiavo’s Right to Refuse Food and Water: Ascendancy of the Artificial Natural Person, 2 Liberty

U. L. Rev. 193 (2007).

41 John Chipman Gray, The Nature and Sources of the Law, 27, Peter Smith Publisher, 2d ed. (1972)) (1909). The

term “prosthetic autonomy” describes the attempt to reconstruct artificially the volition
of a person whose volitional powers are presently inaccessible, in a manner similar to the use of a physical
prosthesis to replace a missing limb.
42
43 Solum, Note 48 infra at 1284 (citing to Elyn R. Saks, Multiple Personality Disorder and Criminal Responsibility,
25 U.C. DAVIS L. REV. 383 (1992).
44 Lawrence B. Solum, Legal Personhood for Artificial Intelligences, 70 N.C. L. Rev. 1231 (1992).

13
 conversation about how the law would react if it were facing the decision
today.45
After deciding to forgo the debate about whether AI technology is a
possibility, Solum argued that the law is what we make it, and we should
consider our collective belief about granting a machine Constitutional
protections. “[W]e can view the legal system as a repository of knowledge—a
formal accumulation of practical judgments. The law embodies core insights
about the way the world works and how we evaluate it.”46
Solum instead applies the law as it existed in 1992 to whether a machine could
be a trustee, analyzing who would be responsible for harm and whether an AI
would understand its fiduciary duties, whether there would be a way to
measure if an AI has sound judgment, whether an AI would be able to adapt to
changed circumstances, and whether the machine would be the true trustee or
simply the tool used by a person who is ultimately responsible. 47
In Section III, Solum discusses whether an AI should be granted the rights of
Constitutional personhood, and whether personhood is based on being human,
or having one of the traits we define as only human, such as having a soul,
consciousness, intentionality, feelings, self-interest, or free will. Solum
addresses whether something originating as property of their creators should
remain that way forever, or if that could ultimately turn AIs into slaves, or risk
the law considering children the property of their parents.
In the final argument, Solum discusses “whether an AI would have the
qualities that give humans moral and legal worth–the kind of value that is
protected by social institutions.”48 If there was a “lack of real intentionality,”
wouldn’t it still ”be useful for us to treat AIs as intentional systems in our
daily lives?”49
Vital, Sophia, and Co.—The Quest for the Legal Personhood of Robots50

European Parliament Committee on Legal Affairs, Draft Report with

recommendations to the Commission on Civil Law Rules on Robotics. 51
This report by the European Parliament in 2015 was a recommendation to the
Commission on Civil Law to create an alternative type of “Personhood”
status, similar to legal personhood status for corporations . The “electronic

45
The first paragraph states, “No existing computer program currently possesses the sort of capacities that would
justify serious judicial inquiry into the question of legal personhood.” Id at 1231.
46 Id at 1232-33.
47 Id at 1240-50.
48 Id at 1281.
49 Id at 1282.
50 Ugo Pagallo, Vital, Sophia, and Co. – The Quest for the Legal Personhood of Robots,
51 PE582.443v01-00 (http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/JURI-PR-582443_EN.pdf?redirect).

14
 persons” status, designated to at least the most autonomous robots, would
assign specific rights and duties to robots and AIs, such as “making good any
damage they may cause.” It would be applied to “cases where robots make
smart autonomous decisions or otherwise interact with third parties
independently,” with strict liability for any harm caused by an AI.
The report defines “smart robots” and recommends a system of required
disclosure and registration for the European Union (EU), an obligatory
insurance scheme paid by producers, and an insurance fund to ensure damages
are compensated adequately.
The report recommends creation of a European Agency for AI to mandate
interoperability of network-connected robots, reversibility models to undo last
sequence of actions when necessary, and full “[a]ccess to the source code”
when needed to “in order to investigate accidents and damage caused by smart
robots.” It recommends new intellectual property rules for “copyrightable
works produced by computers or robots.”
Finally, the report recommends mandatory ethical framework for
programmers in writing AI code, where AI programming has an ethical code
based on the “principles of beneficence, non-maleficence and autonomy” and
fundamental rights principles “such as human dignity and human rights,
equality, justice and equity, non-discrimination and non-stigmatization,
autonomy and individual responsibility, informed consent, privacy and social
responsibility, and on existing ethical practices and codes.” This would
include a heightened legal duty for programmers, requiring precautionary
measures for safety, privacy, and accountability, to be monitored by a
Research Ethics Committee akin to those for human experiments.
Endowed by Their Creator–The Future of Constitutional Personhood52
This article describes two hypothetical beings, Hal and Vanna, to show how
constitutional personhood may be affected in the next few decades. Hal: Hal is
an award-winning AI computer program that has passed the Turing test, and
can fool humans into believed he is human. He files suit that he should be
allowed to take his programming into his own hands without human
interference and an injunction to stop the programmer from wiping his recent
memory to the most recently saved backup. He wants the prize money to go to
himself instead of the programmers. Vanna: Vanna has the genetic makeup of
a human being, and looks like any attractive 20-year-old, female but (by
genetic design) has the brain of a worm. She is used as a sex doll. no working
brain-stem.

52
James Boyle, Endowed by their Creator – The Future of Constitutional Personhood, Governance at Brookings
(2011), reprinted in Jeffrey Rosen & Benjamin Wittes, Constitution 3.0 – Freedom and Technological Change,
Brooklings Institution Press, (March 21, 2013) (ISBN: 9780815724506).

15
 Using these examples, and the fact that genetic engineering and computer
technology is so rapidly advancing, the article argues that constitutional law
will have to allow new legal classifications for artificially-created entities that
have some, but not all of the attributes associated with humans.
Artificial Agents – Personhood in Law and Philosophy53

Fundamental Protections for Non-Biological Intelligences or: How We Learn to

Stop Worrying and Love Our Robot Brethren 54
This student-authored article discusses definitions of AI, then comparies that
with various definitions of a person. The note looks to dictionary and legal
definitions of person, whether personhood should be viewed from the start (at
birth), or retroactively from the end (at death). It compares legal rights and
duties of humans and “Non-biological Intelligence” (“NBI”). Finally, it
discusses various methods of expanding rights and duties to NBIs, including
both “advanced humans” and AIs, from giving it “research subject”
protections, animal protections, or at minimum, basic protections.
“Civil rights are intrinsically linked to personhood, which is a surprisingly
ambiguous concept. Even when narrowing to a "legal person," the concept is,
at best, ‘fuzzy’."

C. Secondary Sources

53
54
NOTE & COMMENT: Fundamental Protections for Non-Biological Intelligences or: How We Learn to Stop
Worrying and Love Our Robot Brethren, 19 Minn. J.L. Sci. & Tech. 305 (2018).

16
 Law Review
There is an extensive list of topics related to legal and moral personhood and
its effect on the law. In 1886, the Supreme Court might have implied the 14th
amendment protected corporations without deciding or even issuing a written
opinion.55 Legal Personhood was a very popularly reviewed topic after a
News Articles & Media
Articles regarding legal personhood for AI artifacts have grown in popularity over the
last 3-4 years. Some of these are written by journalists, attempting to describe their
understanding of what legal personhood means, often with biased views regarding the morality
of the choice. Some are written by computer scientists trying to persuade citizens to understand
the future of technology that we will live in. Some are written by other industry experts to simply
explain the implications for their particular field, such as banking or medicine, if legal
personhood is ascribed to an AI.
While there are many law review articles published that give an accurate depiction of the
process and implications of legal personhood for artificially created artifacts, there are many
more posts, articles, blogs, and social media dialogues about AI that could be used in research, at
least for the purpose of determining societal perspectives of the issues.
These articles were found in various ways, including a general Google search, citations in
legal papers, and reverse Shepardizing government documents (finding where they have been
cited).
Mike Adams, Dolphins Granted Personhood by Government of India. Natural
News, August 9, 2013.56
Philosophy/ Psychology Articles

D. Federal Statutes

E. State Statutes

F. Federal and State Regulations

G. International Law

55
Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Co., 118 U.S. 394 (1886).
56
Read this article at URL: https://www.naturalnews.com/041547_dolphins_personhood_intelligence.html.

17
 Joint Resolutions on Citizenship or Policy

H. Foreign Law approaches to Personhood and Policy

Difference between international and foreign law
United Nations
Treaties between nations
Foreign Laws and development

I. Cases about Personhood and Policy for AI

J. Books and Print Materials on Legal Personhood for AI and AI Policy

Constitution 3.0 – Freedom and Technological Change57

K. Miscellaneous

IV. ADVICE TO RESEARCHERS AND CONCLUSIONS

A. Advice to Researchers
Very few regulations in state law

B. Conclusion
Legal Implications/ State of the Law
Need for collective research across industries
Need for Regulation and judicial guidance for when issues arise

57
Jeffrey Rosen & Benjamin Wittes, Constitution 3.0 – Freedom and Technological Change, Brooklings Institution
Press, (March 21, 2013) (ISBN: 9780815724506).

18