Criminal liability of autonomous agents: from the unthinkable to the plausible

Series : Lecture notes in computer science, ISSN 0302-9743, vol. 8929The evolution of information technologies have brought us to a point where we are confronted with the existence of agents - computational entities - which are able to act autonomously with little or no human intervention. And their behavior can damage individual or collective interests that are protected by criminal law. Based on the analysis of different models of criminal responsibility of legal persons - which constituted an interesting advance in the criminal law in rela-tion to what was hitherto traditionally accepted -, we will appraise whether the necessary legal elements to have direct criminal liability of artificial entities are present.This work is part-funded by CROWDSOURCING project (Reference: DER2012-39492-C02-01)

AI as a legal person

Abstract: The idea of the legal personhood of artificial intelligence (AI) — the idea that intelligent agents can have rights and incur obligations under the law— is controversial, and in fact is often dismissed out of hand: in this paper I will argue that, on the contrary, such legal personhood may be the next big challenge for our legal systems, and we need it to deal with the new kinds ofcomplexity introduced by AI. Furthermore, I argue that we already have experiences we can look: to this end we can draw on the reasoning applied to the legal personhood recognized for corporations and other nonhuman entities. In order to do this, I address some of the criticisms against ascribing legal personhood to AI. I also look at the Canadian and EU ethical guidelines so as to keep the development of AI within the framework of human values, and I show that an ascription of legal personhood to AI is consistent with them. I also address a few of the big issues involved in making the legal personhood of AI a reality.This paper is part of the project supported by the CONEX programme and has received funding from the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement N. 600371, el Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad (COFUND2014-51509), el Ministerio de Educacion, Cultura y Deporte (CEI-15-17) and Banco SantanderUniversidad Carlos III de Madrid (APC. Read & Publish Agreement CRUE-CSIC 2023

Primary intestinal lymphangiectasia (Waldmann's disease)

Primary intestinal lymphangiectasia (PIL) is a rare disorder characterized by dilated intestinal lacteals resulting in lymph leakage into the small bowel lumen and responsible for protein-losing enteropathy leading to lymphopenia, hypoalbuminemia and hypogammaglobulinemia. PIL is generally diagnosed before 3 years of age but may be diagnosed in older patients. Prevalence is unknown. The main symptom is predominantly bilateral lower limb edema. Edema may be moderate to severe with anasarca and includes pleural effusion, pericarditis or chylous ascites. Fatigue, abdominal pain, weight loss, inability to gain weight, moderate diarrhea or fat-soluble vitamin deficiencies due to malabsorption may also be present. In some patients, limb lymphedema is associated with PIL and is difficult to distinguish lymphedema from edema. Exsudative enteropathy is confirmed by the elevated 24-h stool α1-antitrypsin clearance. Etiology remains unknown. Very rare familial cases of PIL have been reported. Diagnosis is confirmed by endoscopic observation of intestinal lymphangiectasia with the corresponding histology of intestinal biopsy specimens. Videocapsule endoscopy may be useful when endoscopic findings are not contributive. Differential diagnosis includes constrictive pericarditis, intestinal lymphoma, Whipple's disease, Crohn's disease, intestinal tuberculosis, sarcoidosis or systemic sclerosis. Several B-cell lymphomas confined to the gastrointestinal tract (stomach, jejunum, midgut, ileum) or with extra-intestinal localizations were reported in PIL patients. A low-fat diet associated with medium-chain triglyceride supplementation is the cornerstone of PIL medical management. The absence of fat in the diet prevents chyle engorgement of the intestinal lymphatic vessels thereby preventing their rupture with its ensuing lymph loss. Medium-chain triglycerides are absorbed directly into the portal venous circulation and avoid lacteal overloading. Other inconsistently effective treatments have been proposed for PIL patients, such as antiplasmin, octreotide or corticosteroids. Surgical small-bowel resection is useful in the rare cases with segmental and localized intestinal lymphangiectasia. The need for dietary control appears to be permanent, because clinical and biochemical findings reappear after low-fat diet withdrawal. PIL outcome may be severe even life-threatening when malignant complications or serous effusion(s) occur