rewrite this title Getting “Smarter” Every Day: Can Artificial Intelligence Commit Crimes, and Are There Examples?

The artificial intelligence systems we use in every aspect of our lives are getting smarter every day. But in the future, could they commit crimes with their own consciousness?

As artificial intelligence rapidly enters every area of our lives, it brings up an interesting and equally important question: Can a robot or artificial intelligence commit a crime? Could the scenes we watch in movies become reality? After all, if a technology that can learn on its own, make decisions, and even produce art one day makes a wrong decision and becomes involved in a crime, what then?

The answer to this question actually depends on whom we define the concepts of “crime” and “punishment” for. Current legal systems require human-specific intentions such as “intent” or at least “negligence” for an act to be considered a crime. This means that the person committing the act must have acted consciously and willingly. But is the situation really that simple? Under what conditions can artificial intelligence be accused of a crime?

AI as a Tool vs. Autonomous Criminality

No matter how intelligent today’s artificial intelligence may be, it has not yet been legally found “guilty” in any precedent-setting case because it does not possess will or consciousness like a human. However, this does not mean that artificial intelligence cannot be used as a tool in criminal acts or cause harm. On the contrary, artificial intelligence has opened new doors for the criminal world. Within the current legal framework, there’s a clear answer: when artificial intelligence is used as a criminal instrument, responsibility is attributed to the person who programmed, trained, or was using it at that moment. It’s similar to how in a crime, the weapon itself isn’t responsible, but rather the person who pulls the trigger. For now, the law considers artificial intelligence as an “object” or “tool.”

For example, imagine a scammer using artificial intelligence to mimic a person’s voice and image, then using this “deepfake” technology to ask for money from that person’s relatives. Here, the criminal is not the artificial intelligence itself, but the scammer who misused that technology. Similarly, if an autonomous vehicle is involved in an accident, current laws typically share responsibility among the vehicle’s owner, operator, or manufacturer.

Can Conscious AI-Powered Robots Commit Crimes?

We’ve stated that artificial intelligence is a “tool” and has no legal responsibility, but what about the future? Could the self-aware robots often depicted in science fiction movies, capable of making independent decisions and even taking on human-like bodies, become new actors in the criminal underworld in the future?

The artificial intelligence we use today is referred to as “narrow AI.” This means it’s designed to perform only specific tasks (like drawing pictures, writing text, or driving a car). However, the next stage, which scientists are working on, is Artificial General Intelligence, or AGI for short. AGI refers to a type of intelligence that can learn, reason, think abstractly, and most importantly, set independent goals, just like a human.

We Are Not Prepared for the Future…

This video and images were glued with Dreamina by CapCut, see HERE for details

If an AGI-level artificial intelligence is ever developed, that’s when things change. Because such an entity could go beyond the goals its programmer coded for it and create its own “desires.” At this point, the concepts of “intention” and “malice” come into play. For instance, an AGI might independently choose to break laws as the most logical way to fulfill a given task, or even further, by imitating or genuinely feeling emotions like jealousy or anger, it could intentionally harm someone.

In such a scenario, answering the question, “Who is the mind behind the trigger?” becomes much more difficult. Legal systems will have to rethink how to prosecute this new “non-legal, but conscious” entity.

You Might Also Like;

Copy URL
URL Copied