New California bill might block the "AI did it" defense in civil cases
34 comments
·February 1, 2025breadwinner
The bill is specifically about cars, but the site doesn't make that clear. Here's a better link: https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202320240ab...
alexd127
This is wrong. That bill was re introduced here https://www.veeto.app/bill/1893370
opawlowski
thats a different bill from last session.
breadwinner
I am going by the bill id AB-316: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml...
gibbitz
Thank God, civil lawsuits can save us from AI overuse since the government has reversed their position.
alexd127
How would user vs developer be distinguished? Looks like it mentions both users and developers but doesnt distinguish how one would be found liable
rileymat2
> This bill would prohibit a defendant that developed or used artificial intelligence, as defined, from asserting a defense that the artificial intelligence autonomously caused the harm to the plaintiff.
I am not sure the distinction matters?
dzink
If you’re driving a self-driving car, you can’t blame it on the car.
techjamie
That wouldn't work anyway. In basically every jurisdiction, operators of vehicles are expected to retain control of the vehicle regardless of self driving status.
Muromec
You can blame it on a car even if the car is not self-driving
Kinrany
Not a new question: "the AI did it" is an equivalent of "the gun did it" or "the car did it".
lelandfe
On the other hand, “the corporation did it” has been pretty successful so far
RobotToaster
> or "the car did it".
Tesla gives you the old with the new.
escapecharacter
Accountability hacking: https://www.motortrend.com/news/nhtsa-tesla-autopilot-invest...
doctorpangloss
Ha ha, can’t say AI did it, but hundreds of people die yearly in California to drivers claiming pEdAl cOnFuSiOn, and that’s okay.
grepfru_it
It’s not okay though, what you described is still fault of the driver
doctorpangloss
Prepare to be pissed off when you punch this stuff into Google and study this issue.
TheRealPomax
It's unclear whether this applies to state law enforcement or only the citizenship. It also seems to focus not on "invalidating the defense" but on "punishing the developers" which is more than a little weird.
nine_zeros
I hope when they mean AI developers, it means the owners of the IP, and not the actual devs working on it.
deadbabe
This bill sucks, a developer should never be held accountable for software they work on or produce.
null
roughly
That's an insane standard. Your work has real-world consequences, act accordingly.
rileymat2
But then won't you get a bunch of things that have tons of fine print that no one reads that say do not use it for these purposes. Then have users use them for those purposes harming others?
unsnap_biceps
Wouldn't that broad statement also apply to malware or other malicious software development practices?
Muromec
You just get an insurance, like every other reputable professional does.
"A computer can never be held accountable, therefore a computer must never make a management decision" - IBM 1979