IECL Annual Lecture: Real Challenges for a New Regime of Product Liability in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
The inaugural IECL Annual Lecture will be given by Professor Pascal Pichonnaz (University of Fribourg and President of the European Law Institute).
At the end of 2021, the EU Commission launched a public consultation tackling the issue whether and how to improve the Product Liability Directive (PLD) and to determine how to address issues related to damage caused by Artificial Intelligence.
The European Law Institute (ELI) has filed a response to this consultation. It has now also embarked on preparing an adapted PLD to concretize some of the issues raised. Products often include digital elements, an issue which was not considered when the PLD was adopted in 1985. Does it mean that the PLD regime should be extended to products with digital elements? If this path were followed, how should such products be defined? Would, for instance, updates to the digital components be treated differently? How should one assess a causal link when one main feature of some digital component is interoperability, and where there is therefore a risk that the origin of a defective product lies in bad data provided by others? Do the specificities of AI justify a modification of the burden of proof, and if so, in what situations? Moreover, would an extension of the PLD to digital content leave some room for a specific set of rules creating an AI liability?
The presentation will address some of these challenging questions and present reflections as to possible solutions.
The lecture will be held in the Amersi Foundation Lecture Room, Brasenose College and will be followed by a drinks reception.
If you would like to attend the IECL Annual Lecture please complete the registration form below using your SSO credentials. Registration will close on 3 May 2022 and places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.