A Law-Fiction Essay: The Legal Liability of an AI Entity (Could It Be?)

2017Murat Volkan DülgerArticle

Abstract

This work was written in Turkish. The summary on this page is a translation; the citation gives the original title in parentheses.

Ever since I was a child, my greatest interest has been space travel and, in connection with it, science fiction novels and stories. I think it would not be wrong to say that this interest has directly influenced my fields of work and my career. It was entirely this curiosity that led me to work first in IT law and then in the field of artificial intelligence. For me, reading what has been written in these fields and reflecting on it is, beyond work, an effort to satisfy an inexhaustible curiosity. Above all, I cannot put into words the pleasure of seeing that yesterday’s science fiction has become today’s reality. I deliberately chose to call this article a “law-fiction essay” in its title.

For what I am about to set out is partly law, partly science and partly science fiction. Moreover, there are as yet no definite conclusions or judgments in this field; there are more questions than answers, which is why the title of the piece says “essay”. To avoid misunderstandings, let me say this at the outset: what is written in the field of science fiction is a prediction of the future on the basis of scientific data, usually told within the framework of a story. Yesterday’s science fiction story is therefore today’s reality. The clearest proof of this is the stories of the famous writer Jules Verne. Starting from the scientific discoveries of his age, he predicted the journey to the moon and submarine voyages, which lay beyond his age; these are familiar events of our lives today. And a new name is about to join these writers: Isaac Asimov.