On September 17 2019, Dr. Eduard Fosch Villaronga visited the Nordic Centre for Internet and Society and presented his ongoing research on responsibility and robotics. Eduard is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Researcher at eLaw - Center for Law and Digital Technologies of the University of Leiden and is a leading expert in law and robotics in Europe. He has published widely in law and robotics and is a close collaborator of the Nordic Centre. His presentation was part of a one-month research stay at the University of Oslo within the VIROS (Vulnerability in the Robot Society) project, funded by the Research Council of Norway.
At the Nordic Centre, Eduard gave an overview of current debates on the legal status of social robots, particularly in healthcare. Given the autonomy, technological sophistication and opacity of such robots, how should responsibility be assigned to different stakeholders? Should robots have legal personhood? Eduard approached these questions from an interdisciplinary perspective, including legal, ethical and technical considerations. The enlightening presentation was well received and sparked engaged discussions with the audience. It was attended by BI faculty and external visitors alike.