” How could I entrust my children to machines ? “In the hall of the Paris court of appeal, the trial is projected in 2041, and opens with a newscast announcing the” pile-up of the century ” : 50 deaths and 100 serious injuries. Main accused in the box, Eureka, system of artificial intelligence (AI) built-in to autonomous vehicles in question.
The word to the defense
Organized on Thursday evening in front of a packed room by the court of appeal of Paris and the association of lawyers Jurisnautes, this fake trial is an echo of the development of cars without driver, which arouse in the manufacturers hope for a new mass market. “We have collectively caused this situation, this is not the fault of the person,” says the defence as embodied by the magistrate Jean-Baptiste Crabières.
autonomous Car © DR
Believing that the empowerment of the vehicles ” has helped to drastically reduce accidents for the past ten years “, he pleads the release: “The AI does not want to put people in danger, they do not want trouble, they don’t want to conquer the world, it is anthropomorphism “, he laments. In this futuristic world that takes shape in front of the court of appeal, the artificial intelligence is endowed with a legal personality and must be found guilty according to the indictment. The public prosecutor requires the “death penalty” to Eureka, ” the absence of reaction at the time of the pile-up shows that she has stopped worrying about the security of the users “.
Damages
autonomous Car © DR
At the end of the trial, the jury headed by Valery Turcey, president of the chamber of the court of appeal of Paris, considered the artificial intelligence “guilty of manslaughter” and was ordered to pay “all damages” to the civil parties and to ” re-algorithmic with put to the test in a simulator “. The public is also called to decide at the end of the three hours of debate, has also cleared the user of the machine is a standalone, which was found to have operated a red button emergency stop, but was released the AI system of criminal responsibility.
Fiction not so long ago
The artificial intelligence on the bench of the accused ? For the organizers of the event, it is” a fiction not so long ago “. “We entered into the fundamental problems,” said Catherine Champrenault , attorney general of the court of Paris. “This is to ask if the connected objects can generate offence, and if the law, as it is today, is sufficient. “”These are questions which will soon arise for the insurers , the lawyers, the manufacturers,” she said the association Jurisnautes, who wanted to match up this fake lawsuit with the geneva international motor Show that opens in Paris.
Already a pedestrian killed in the United States
If there is, for the time being, “no case law” in the matter, an accident involving a taxi independent of Uber in Arizona in march has claimed the life of a pedestrian. A survey OpinionWay for 2017 has also revealed that 56 % of the French were not ready to ride in an autonomous car for fear of accident. In June 2017, Jurisnautes had organized a fake trial of transhumanism for the first edition of the Night of the law, at the initiative of the president of the constitutional Council, Laurent Fabius.