AIs could soon run businesses – it’s an opportunity to ensure these ‘artificial persons’ follow the law

tech.hindustantimes.com:

By Daniel Gervais, Vanderbilt University, and John Nay, Stanford University

Tennesse, Oct 29 (The Conversation) Only “persons” can engage with the legal system – for example, by signing contracts or filing lawsuits.

There are two main categories of persons: humans, termed “natural persons,” and creations of the law, termed “artificial persons.” These include corporations, nonprofit organisations and limited liability companies (LLCs).

Up to now, artificial persons have served the purpose of helping humans achieve certain goals.

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For example, people can pool assets in a corporation and limit their liability vis-à-vis customers or other persons who interact with the corporation. But a new type of artificial person is poised to enter the scene – artificial intelligence systems, and they won't necessarily serve human interests.

As scholars who study AI and law we believe that this moment presents a significant challenge to the legal system: how to regulate AI within existing legal frameworks to reduce undesirable behaviors, and how to assign legal responsibility for autonomous actions of AIs.

One solution is teaching AIs to be law-abiding entities.

This is far from a philosophical question. The laws governing LLCs in several US states do not require that humans oversee the operations of an LLC. In fact, in some states it is possible to have an LLC with no human owner, or “member” – for example, in cases where all of the partners have died.

Though legislators probably weren't thinking of AI when they crafted the LLC laws, the possibility for zero-member LLCs opens the door to creating LLCs operated by AIs.

Many functions inside small and large companies have already been delegated to AI in part,