Regulating Robotics and AI: Bringing Innovation to the Market
"Regulating Robotics and AI: Bringing Innovation to the Market" is the seminar planned for Wednesday, February 19th at The BioRobotics Institute of Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna. The speaker is Andrea Bertolini, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Law, Politics and Development.
ABSTRACT
If the time machine was invented overnight, it would already be regulated. The legal system is, in fact, by definition, complete. If an accident occurred involving the use of the time machine, a judge would have to decide who is to be blamed and who pays for damages. To do so, he would apply existing regulation, that was not conceived thinking of time-travel. The adequacy of the solution, thus depends on how well a solution conceived for older technologies and applications fits new ones. Often times, quite bad.
The issue is therefore not IF technology needs to be regulated, but HOW. The correct answer to this question is the one that allows technological development to flourish and innovation to reach the market. The status quo might instead largely impair innovation.
To discuss technology regulation one needs a multidisciplinary approach that rests upon an understanding of (i) engineering, (ii) law, (iii) economics, (iv) ethics.
One needs to understand (i) the technology he is trying to regulate (not its science-fiction account), (ii) what laws are applicable, and (iii) what incentives those norms provide, and (iv) if those are desirable and sufficient, or whether instead they need to be changed, and how.
The Robolaw team brings together all such competences and addresses the broadest spectrum of topics in technology regulation, ranging from (i) liability, insurance and risk management, (ii) product safety regulation, testing and certification, (iii) privacy and data protection, (iv) human-machine interfaces and interactions, (v) technoethics.
On such matters we advise European policy-makers (EU Parliament, Commission), and international organizations such as World Economic Forum and OECD, and we participate in a number of research projects and proposals, and international expert groups, including within the IEEE.