Legal Personhood for Artificial Intelligence: Can and Should It Be Conferred?

Abstract

It is a fact that today artificial intelligence is at an indispensable point for human life. Even though robots have a history of only 100 years in human life, it is not possible to imagine a life without robots with artificial intelligence technology when considering the great conveniences provided by them while performing our routines in our daily lives. This indispensable technology is of course used in legal relations, as well as in every field. Since Gaius, it has been accepted that law concerns persons, or things or actions. For this reason, legal systems need to determine the legal status of artificial intelligence and decide whether a new notion of personhood is needed for this technology. Therefore, this article aims to answer the questions whether it is possible to confer a new kind of personhood to artificial intelligence, as well as whether there is a legal need for it.