Teresa Rodríguez de las Heras Ballell
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Teresa Rodríguez de las Heras Ballell is Associate Professor of Commercial Law at University Carlos III of Madrid.
2017-2018 Chair of Excellence at Oxford University (Uc3m-Santander Program), affiliated to Harris Manchester College.
Member of the EU Commission Expert Group on Liability/Technologies formation on Artificial Intelligence, DLT and IoT and member of the European Union Expert Group for the Observatory on the Online Platform Economy European Central Bank Legal Research Programme 2018 fellowship with a project on Fintech regulation/supervision. Member of UNIDROIT Study Group on MAC Protocol to the Cape Town Convention on international interests, member of the Aviation Working Group’s Spanish Contact Group, member of the Rail Working Group, Spanish Delegate before UNIDROIT for MAC Protocol (CGE and Diplomatic Conference for adoption), Spanish Delegate before UNCITRAL Working Group VI on Security Interests. Elected member of the ELI Council (European Law Institute), Fellow of ELI, and Assessor to two ELI Projects. Of Counsel, Andersen.
Arbitrator at Madrid Court of Arbitration; arbitrator at Spanish Court of Arbitration and Expert/Arbitrator on disputes related to domain names .es, and member of Spanish Advertising Standards Tribunal (AUTOCONTROL).
Visiting professorships: James J. Coleman Sr. Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at Tulane Law School; Visiting Fellow at Harris Manchester College, Oxford University; Fellow at Stanford Law School TTLF with projects on Digital Intermediaries, and Marie Curie Fellow at ZERP of University of Bremen, among others visiting professorships and fellowships - such as Columbia Law School, University of Washington, University of Tokyo or University College of London.
Regular participation in international conferences and publications in English, Spanish and Italian on platforms, digital intermediaries and digital law, Fintech; and international business transactions and secured transaction).
Research interests: digital law in commercial transactions and business activities (platforms, intermediary liability, privacy, IA and other emerging technologies, big data, smart contracts, Fintech, Insurtech, Regtech, crowdfunding); international business transactions (legal harmonization); and secured transactions and finance law.
Title
The EU Approach to the Liability for AI systems: Key Policy Decisions, Milestones, and Future Expectations
Abstract
The transformative potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on economies and societies is incontestable. In combination with other emerging technologies, the multiple applications and uses of AI in a multitude of domains accelerates the pace of the digital revolution of our societies and unleashes unprecedented possibilities. Despite these undisputable gains, the pervasive use of AI brings about risks and challenges, can cause damages and lead to losses.
Therefore, the most immediate concern is whether and to which extent current liability regimes are poised to effectively address losses resulting from AI and other emerging technologies. Throughout history, legal rules, concepts and principles have certainly accommodated to the challenges posed by scientific, technical and, more recently, technological progress. The adaptable principles of technological neutrality and functional equivalence have played a decisive role in the adaptation of legacy legal systems to digital technologies.
Nonetheless, AI, especially in conjunction with other converging technologies, proves to be highly disruptive. Certain disruptive features of AI can render current liability regimes insufficient or partially inadequate.
The adequacy and completeness of liability regimes in the face of technological challenges have an extraordinary societal relevance. Should the liability system reveal insufficiencies, flaws and gaps in dealing with damages caused by emerging technologies, victims may end up totally or at least partially uncompensated. The social impact of a potential inadequacy of existing legal regimes to address new risks created by AI might then compromise the expected benefits. Moreover, the magnitude of the harm caused by AI can be aggravated and damages can easily become viral and rapidly propagate in a densely-interconnected society.
The EU approach to the liability for AI is based on acknolwedging these distinctive/disruptive characteristics (complexity, vulnerability, opacity, data-dependence, increasing autonomy) and assessing the need to accommodate existing rules and formulate well-suited new rules on a harmonized basis. The Paper will trace the evolution of the EU approach singling out the key policy decisions and the most relevant milestones in the regulatory/legislative process. The analysis of the EU EG Report, the proposal of Regulations, and other surrounding initiatives paves the way to the discernment of an EU apporach to AI.