Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: notesfiles Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!hao!hplabs!hp-pcd!uo-vax1!novick From: novick@uo-vax1.UUCP (novick) Newsgroups: net.ai Subject: Re: Liability Message-ID: <58300001@uo-vax1.UUCP> Date: Fri, 12-Oct-84 16:20:00 EDT Article-I.D.: uo-vax1.58300001 Posted: Fri Oct 12 16:20:00 1984 Date-Received: Sat, 13-Oct-84 04:22:23 EDT References: <12818@sri-arpa.UUCP> Organization: Univ of Oregon - Eugene, OR Lines: 32 Nf-ID: #R:sri-arpa:-1281800:uo-vax1:58300001:000:1642 Nf-From: uo-vax1!novick Oct 11 12:20:00 1984 /***** uo-vax1:net.ai / sri-arpa!Laws@SRI-AI.ARPA / 2:01 pm Oct 6, 1984*/ From: Ken LawsJust as damning as using an incompetent [software] advisor is failing to use a competent one. If a doctor's error makes you a cripple for life, and if he had available (and perhaps even used) an expert system counceling a better course of treatment, is he not guilty of malpractice? Does the doctor incur a different liability than if he had used/not used a human consultant? The human consultant would normally bear part of the liability. Since you can't sue an expert system, do you sue the company that sold it? The programmer? The theoretician who developed the algorithm? I'm sure there are abundant legal precedents for all of the above. For anyone with the answers to the above, here's an even more difficult problem. Systems for monitoring and interpreting electrocardiograms are commonly adjusted at the "factory" to match the diagnostic style of the purchasing physician. Suppose that the doctor requests that this be done, or even does it himself. Suppose further that he is incompetent at this type of diagnosis (after all, he's buying a system to do it for him), and that customization to match his preferences can be shown to degrade the performance of the software. Is he liable for operating the system at less than full capability? I assume so. Is the manufacturer liable for making the adjustment, or for providing him the means of doing it himself? I would assume that also. What are the relative liabilities for all parties? -- Ken Laws /* ---------- */