Artificial Intelligence and Tort Liability: An Economic Analysis of Law

This thesis is an exploration of the legal implications of artificial intelligence with regards to tort liability. The primary focus of the discussion is automated vehicles and artificial intelligence within the medical field. These applications were specifically chosen because of their rapid advancement and their impact on the daily life of citizens. The primary purpose is to shed light on some critical issues, outline potential solutions and discuss benefits and drawbacks of specific tort rules for machines equipped with artificial intelligence. The method chosen to conduct the analysis is the doctrine welfare economics, which is one subsect of economic analysis of law. It extends traditional methods of economics to legal rules and is primarily utilized to analyze what kinds of legal rules are best suited for particular circumstances. Welfare economics integrates social welfare of individuals into the analysis, instead of solely relying on the traditional objective of wealth maximization. Principal rules of tort law are compared with regards to artificial intelligence, a rule of no liability, strict liability and a rule of negligence and their potential outcomes contrasted alongside a discussion on the application of product liability and malpractice law to artificial intelligence