Artificial Intelligence in the Context of Criminal Law Risks

Relevance. The growing digitalization of society, leads to the emergence of new forms of socially dangerous behavior (socially dangerous activity). In many ways, such criminal and legal risks are caused by the involvement of the phenomenon of artificial intelligence in various spheres of human activity. During the operation of artificial intelligence, it is also possible to exert harmful effects on artificial intelligence itself and (or) its carrier, which, from the standpoint of the current criminal law, may not always receive an unambiguous qualification.

The purpose of the study is to identify criminal law risks existing in the context of artificial intelligence and formulate scientifically based conclusions regarding the prospects for the development of domestic criminal law and legislation.

Objectives: to identify the key criminal law risks associated with the exploitation of artificial intelligence; to check whether artificial intelligence has the properties necessary for criminal personality; to identify possible options for criminal law assessment of harm caused by the exploitation of artificial intelligence; to establish the sufficiency of criminal law resources to protect artificial intelligence itself from socially dangerous behavior.

Methodology. The methodological basis of the research was the universal dialectical method of cognition of phenomena and processes of the surrounding reality. During the development of theoretical and applied provisions of the work, a set of general scientific and private scientific research methods (formal logical, predictive, formal legal, etc.) was also used.

Results. The prospects for the development of criminal law and criminal legislation of Russia in the context of the problem of artificial intelligence directly depend on the level of scientific and technological achievements in its programming and operation.

Conclusion. The modern potential of artificial intelligence precludes raising the question of its criminal legal personality mainly due to its lack of ability to mentally perceive its own socially dangerous activity, which is a prerequisite for criminal liability. The developer of the corresponding program or the operator of the artificial intelligence carrier device must be responsible for causing harm to interests protected by criminal law in connection with the exploitation of artificial intelligence. 

1. Blinov A. G. [Global challenges of modernity and their neutralization by criminal law tools]. Sovremennye globalnye vyzovy i ikh neitralizatsiya ugolovno-pravovymi, kriminologicheskimi i ugolovnoprotsessualnymi sredstvami. Sbornik trudov po materialam Vserossijskoj nauchno-prakticheskoj konferencii s mezhdunarodnym uchastiem v ramkah III Saratovskogo yuridicheskogo foruma [Modern global challenges and their neutralization by criminal law, criminological and criminal procedure tools. Collection of works on materials of the All-Russian scientific-practical conf. with international studies in the framework of the III Saratov Legal Forum]; ed. by A. G. Blinov, E. V. Kobzeva, N. S. Manova. Saratov, Saratov St. Law Acad. Publ., 2023, pp. 10–16. (In Russ.)

2. Sidorenko E. L. [Digitalization and the main directions of development of Russian law]. Razvitie nauk antikriminalnogo tsikla v svete globalnykh vyzovov obshchestvu. Sbornik trudov po materialam vserossijskoj zaochnoj nauchno-prakticheskoj konferencii s mezhdunarodnym uchastiem [Development of anti-criminal cycle sciences in the light of global challenges to society. A collection of proceedings of the All-Russian extramural scientific and practical conference with international studies]; ed. by A. G. Blinov, E. V. Kobzeva. Saratov, Saratov St. Law Acad. Publ., 2021, pp. 327–341. (In Russ.)

3. Kibalnik A. G., Volosiuk P. V. Iskusstvennyi intellekt: voprosy ugolovno-pravovoi doktriny, ozhidaiushchie otvetov [Artificial intelligence: criminal law doctrinal questions awaiting answers]. Yuridicheskaya nauka i praktika: Vestnik Nizhegorodskoj akademii MVD Rossii = Legal Science and Practice: Bulletin of the Nizhny Novgorod Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, 2018, no. 4(44), pp. 173–178.

4. Bostrom N. Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies. Oxford, Oxford Univ. Press, 2014. 328 p.

5. Kartashov I. I., Kartashov I. I. Iskusstvennyi intellekt: ugolovno-pravovoi i protsessualnyi aspekty [Artificial intelligence: criminal-legal and procedural aspects]. Aktualnye problemy gosudarstva i prava = Actual Problems of the State and Law, 2021, vol. 5, no. 17, pp. 75–89.

6. Hallevy G. Unmanned vehicles – subordination to criminal law under the modern concept of criminal liability. Journal of Law, Information and Science, 2012, vol. 21, pp. 200–211.

7. Gottfredson L. S. Mainstream science on intelligence. Wall Street Journal, 1994, December 13, A18.

8. Razgildiev B. T. Iskusstvennyi intellekt i profilaktika ego obshchestvennoi opasnosti [Artificial intelligence and prevention of its public danger]. Vestnik Saratovskoj gosudarstvennoj yuridicheskoj akademii= Bulletin of the Saratov State Academy of Law, 2021, no. 3, pp. 154–163.

9. Lebedev M. V., Serebrennikova A. V. Iskusstvennyi intellekt: problemy regulirovaniya v ugolovnom zakonodatelstve Rossiiskoi Federatsii [Artificial intelligence: problems of regulation in the criminal legislation of the Russian Federation]. Soiuz kriminalistov i kriminologov = The Union of Criminalists and Criminologists, 2021, no. 2, pp. 116–120.

10. Savenok A. L. [Artificial intelligence as a subject of criminal law: theoretical and applied aspects]. Borba s prestupnostiu: teoriia i praktika. Tezisy dokladov X Mezhdunarodnoj nauchnoprakticheskoj konferencii [Combating crime: theory and practice. Abstract of X International scientificpractical conference]. Mogilev, Mogilev Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus Publ., 2022, pp. 107–109. (In Russ.)

11. Laptev V. A. Ponyatie iskusstvennogo intellekta i yuridicheskaya otvetstvennost' za ego rabotu [The concept of artificial intelligence and legal responsibility for its work]. Pravo. Zhurnal Vysshej shkoly ekonomiki = Law. Journal of the Higher School of Economics, 2019, no. 2, pp. 77–102.

12. Kartashov I. I., Kartashov I. I. Iskusstvennyi intellekt kak sub"iekt ugolovnoi otvetstvennosti: nastoyashchee i perespektivy [Artificial intelligence as a subject of criminal responsibility: present and perspectives]. Pravo: istoriya i sovremennost' = Law: History and Modernity, 2021, no. 2(15), pp. 68–78.

13. Pagallo U. Killers, fridges, and slaves: a legal journey in robotics. AI & Society, 2011, vol. 26(4), pp. 347–354.

14. Van Riemsdijk M. B., Dennis L. A., Fisher M., Hindriks K. V. Agent reasoning for norm compliance: A semantic approach. Proceedings of the 12th International conference on Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems. Saint Paul, 2013, pp. 499–506.

15. Kobzeva E. V., Sitnik V. N. Perspektivy ustanovleniya ugolovnoi otvetstvennosti yuridicheskikh lits v usloviyakh razvitiya sfery avtonomnogo transporta [Prospects of establishing criminal liability of legal entities in the conditions of development of the sphere of autonomous transport]. Vestnik Saratovskoj gosudarstvennoj yuridicheskoj akademii = Bulletin of the Saratov State Academy of Law, 2022, no. 2, pp. 184–193.

16. Khisamova Z. I., Begishev I. R. Ugolovnaya otvetstvennost' i iskusstvennyi intellekt: teoreticheskie i prikladnye aspekty [Criminal Responsibility and Artificial Intelligence: Theoretical and Applied Aspects]. Vserossijskij kriminologicheskij zhurnal = All-Russian Criminological Journal, 2019, vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 564–574.

17. Brenner S. W., Carrier B., Henninger J. The Trojan horse defense in cybercrime cases. Santa Clara High Technology Law Journal, 2004, vol. 21, is. 1, pp. 3–53.

18. Shestak V. A., Volevodz A. G., Alizade V. A. O vozmozhnosti doktrinal'nogo vospriyatiya sistemoi obshchego prava iskusstvennogo intellekta kak sub"iekta prestupleniya: na primere ugolovnogo zakonodatel'stva SShA [On the possibility of doctrinal perception of artificial intelligence as a subject of crime by the common law system: the example of us criminal legislation]. Vserossijskij kriminologicheskij zhurnal = All-Russian Criminological Journal, 2019, vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 547–554.

19. Lopashenko N. A. [The new realities of crime in the digital world and in the age of artificial intelligence and the criminal justice response to them: should we not "bend to a changing world"?]. Ugolovnyi zakon v epokhu iskusstvennogo intellekta i tsifrovizatsii. Sbornik trudov po materialam Vserossijskoj nauchno-prakticheskoj konferencii s mezhdunarodnym uchastiem v ramkah I Saratovskogo mezhdunarodnogo yuridicheskogo foruma, posvyashchennogo 90-letnemu yubileyu Saratovskoj gosudarstvennoj yuridicheskoj akademii [Criminal Law in the Era of Artificial Intelligence and Digitalization. Collection of articles on the proceedings of the All-Russian scientific-practical conferences with international studies in the framework of the I Saratov International Law Forum, dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the Saratov State Law Academy]; ed. by A. G. Blinov, E. V. Kobzeva. Saratov, Saratov St. Law Acad. Publ., 2021, pp. 15–31.

20. Ponkin I. V., Redkina A. I. Iskusstvennyi intellekt s tochki zreniya prava [Artificial intelligence from a legal perspective]. Vestnik Rossijskogo universiteta druzhby narodov. Seriya: Yuridicheskie nauki = Bulletin of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia. Series: Legal Sciences, 2018, no. 22-1, pp. 91–109.