Are Programmers in or out of Control? The Individual Criminal Responsibility of Programmers of Autonomous Weapons and Self-Driving Cars

This chapter seeks to clarify the criminal responsibility that may be imputable to: (i) programmers of autonomous vehicles for related crimes under national criminal law such as manslaughter and negligent homicide and (ii) programmers of autonomous weapons for related crimes under international criminal law, such as war crimes. The key question is whether programmers could satisfy the actus reus element required for establishing criminal responsibility. The core challenge in answering this question is establishing a causal link between programmers’ conduct and crimes related to autonomous vehicles and autonomous weapons. The chapter proposes responsibility for inherent foreseeable risks associated with the use of AVs and AWs on the basis of programmers’ alleged control of the behavior and/or effects of the autonomous vehicles and autonomous weapons. Establishing the exercise of meaningful human control by programmers over autonomous vehicles and autonomous weapons is crucial to the process of imputing criminal responsibility and bridging a responsibility gap.