Ethical and Legal Protection of Artificial Intelligence Damage and Liability

The research problem of this article is the following: what should be the ethical and legal protection of damage caused by an artificially intelligent entity? The aim is to verify the sufficiency of the ethical guidelines and the Brazilian legal system of civil liability regarding the acts caused under analysis. The liability regimes are contrasted: subjective; objective; trans-subjective; and preventive. The ontology of artificial intelligence is identified and its ownership of the duty to indemnify is ruled out. Furthermore, etymological, statistical, and legal reflections on the concept of risk are presented, verifying that this legal conception is restricted to the capacity to cause damage. Thus, it is analyzed whether activities involving the programming of artificially intelligent entities are considered risky. The conclusion is that, given the uncertainty and randomness inherent in the programming, execution, and development of artificially intelligent entities, the most appropriate legal protection is subjective due to the potential for damage. Furthermore, it is concluded that ethical protection can be seen as an exclusion of liability as a mechanism for breaking the causal link since it is exercised when the autonomous system is developed by programming abstentions from potentially damaging actions. The integrated research method is used, as well as case study techniques and bibliographical research.