Should traditional forms of contractual and tortious liability be applied to the actions or

omissions of autonomous intelligent agents?

Even though the autonomy of robots has grown exponentially so they can produce
rights and obligations on behalf of humans and even cause harm to third parties, I believe that
traditional forms of liability are not suitable.

Intelligent agents have become more complex. Yet, they are not humans. Taking this
into account, it would not be appropriate to assess their liability as if they were.

Nor are they killers or fridges. Still, they produce legal effects.1

I share the idea that they give rise to a new source of responsibility. Analogies have
been made comparing the ‘personhood’ of intelligent agents with that of slaves in Ancient
Rome.2

Notwithstanding some differences, there are certain aspects of the regulation of slaves
that could be useful not only for contract law but also for tort law.

In terms of contract law, it is true that to the extent that the agent is limited to acting in
a specific context responsibility can be established beforehand through a framework
agreement. However, if we want to grant greater freedom of action to the agents outside that
'walled garden'3 it is necessary to give them a legal framework.

That is why the comparison with slaves could be practical. Some slaves carried out
business transactions on behalf of their masters. These slaves also had the right to hold
property (money, houses, other slaves) for its exclusive use, known as the peculium.

The peculium served as a guarantee, in a way that granted certain security to those who
did business with the slave and the masters could only be sued up to the limits of the
peculium. Except in cases of fraud, a kind of peculium could be granted to the agent for
contract liability purposes.4

In terms of tort law it may be more complicated, but not impossible, a legal solution.

1
Ugo Pagallo, ‘Killers, Fridges, and Slaves: A Legal Journey in Robotics’ [2011] AI and Society.
2
Andrew Katz, ‘Intelligent Agents and Internet Commerce in Ancient Rome’ (2008) <https://www.scl.org/articles/1095-intelligent-agents-and-
internet-commerce-in-ancient-rome>.
3
ibid.
4
ibid.