This post has been contributed by Professor Jill Marshall, Module Convenor for Jurisprudence.
This short blog reflects, through a jurisprudential lens, on the effect of technology on individuals’ ability to be responsible for their actions – a founding principle of law and legal theory. The blog connects self-driving cars, jurisprudence and a recent joint report of the Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission.
The BBC reported in January 2026 that the world’s leading microchip-maker Nvidia had unveiled a new technology platform for self-driving cars. Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s founder and CEO, is reported to have said that this system would bring ‘reasoning’ to autonomous vehicles, allowing cars to ‘think through rare scenarios, drive safely in complex environments, and explain their driving decisions.’ This triggers reflective consideration in the light of our Jurisprudence module of the ability of individuals to be responsible for their actions when it is machines that are autonomously able to reason and drive. Advances like this, mean we need to reflect on the implications of a machine making active responsible decisions in the context of a legal system which places responsibility on individuals who are deemed competent, autonomous and in control of their own actions, with implications for responsibility and punishment for wrongdoing.
In the wider context of Artificial Intelligence, Nvidia’s microchips have helped power the continuing AI revolution, though, according to news sources, attention has mostly focused on the software, such as ChatGPT. However, it was reported, by the BBC correspondent, Lily Jamili, that leading technology firms are now increasingly looking for hardware – physical products such as cars – that AI could be used in, helping partners build robotic systems, and physical AI ecosystems. Huang’s presentation featured a video demonstration of the AI-powered Mercedes-Benz driving through San Francisco while a passenger, behind the steering wheel, kept their hands in their lap, with Nvidia’s vision of ‘someday, every single car, every single truck, will be autonomous.’ It was reported too that, like Elon Musk’s Tesla, Nvidia has plans to launch a robotaxi service by next year in collaboration with a partner. This visualisation of a future of changing responsibility for human action needs to make us interconnect law’s core foundations to a changing world.
We can also connect this story to a new Act of Parliament: this followed a Law Commission of England and Wales published joint report with the Scottish Law Commission that outlined recommendations for legal reform around automated vehicles and how they could safely and responsibly be introduced on British roads and public places. The Automated Vehicles Bill was laid before Parliament and the Scottish Parliament, and on May 2024 the Automated Vehicles (AV) Act received royal assent.
The work began in 2018 when the Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission were asked to undertake a far-reaching review to enable the safe and responsible introduction of automated vehicles (defined by the Law Commission as vehicles that are capable of driving themselves without being controlled or monitored by an individual for at least part of a journey) on British roads and public places. The project involved consultations, written and in person, and the publication of three consultation papers leading to proposals. Safety was kept at the forefront of the proposals, while retaining flexibility to accommodate future development. Recommendations cover initial approval and authorisation of self-driving vehicles, ongoing monitoring of their performance while they are on the road, misleading marketing, and both criminal and civil liability, including:
- A new in-use safety assurance scheme to provide regulatory oversight of automated vehicles throughout their lifetimes to ensure they continue to be safe and comply with road rules.
- New legal roles for users, manufacturers, and service operators, with removal of criminal responsibility for the person in the passenger seat.
- Holding manufacturers and service operators criminally responsible for misrepresentation or non-disclosure of safety-relevant information.
The age of increasing AI use, automated vehicles, taxis, and public transport-related robotics will raise many issues for contemplation by philosophers of law. You are asked to consider how liberal views of a responsible person are shifting in this global era of technology developments – is the individual with autonomy, capable of action and independence, and their related liability and responsibilities, being lost or replaced?
See further:
Nvidia unveils self-driving car tech as it seeks to power more products with AI
Driverless cars: The legal concerns and what measures could be needed to overcome these challenges