AI to be named 'species' in law books? Credible call made by legal experts

Non-human entities such as Artificial Intelligence-operated corporations must be able to enter the legal system as a new "species" in the law books, according to a report titled 'Artificial intelligence and interspecific law'.

AI has evolved to the point where it could function as a legal subject with rights and obligations, said the authors Daniel Gervais and John Nay.

The assertion has been made right before a global technology summit to be stewarded by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in London that will call for global responsibility to take Artificial Intelligence seriously.

What does it mean?

The authors argue that before Artificial Intelligence's regulatory framework in the parts of world becomes complex, "interspecific" legal frameworks need to be developed by which Artificial Intelligence can be treated as legal subjects.

Who do the legal frameworks concern till now?

The legal systems so far concerns human beings. Non-human entities such as animals are given their legal rights through human proxies. In these cases, the legal rights of non-human subjects address human obligations as they relate to them.

But in the parts of world, such as the United States, corporations are recognised as "artificial persons" within the legal system.

The authors interpret that nothing generally prevents an AI from operating a corporate entity.

"As the idea of ceasing AI development and use is highly unrealistic, including regulating AI by treating the machines as legally inferior to humans or engineering AI systems to be law-abiding and bringing them into the legal fold now before it becomes too complicated to do so," they said.

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Meanwhile, the British intelligence agencies have warned that generative artificial intelligence (AI) will pose a stark threat to political systems by as early as the next two years.

The papers, based on British intelligence assessments of the near-term threats, pointed to "Digital Risks" such as cybercrime and hacking, as an area where generative AI models are likely to have the largest negative impact.

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