Phil Koopman — Autonomous System Safety (Substack)

Laundering Accountability with Embodied AI

The article warns that autonomous‑vehicle firms are rebranding human remote operators as "assistants" to dodge legal responsibility. By labeling these operators as non‑drivers, companies aim to shift liability from tort negligence to product‑defect claims, even when human error directly causes crashes. The piece outlines a series of hypothetical scenarios showing how the same human action can be recast as merely advisory. It concludes that without regulatory reform, victims will face uphill battles for compensation.