Evolving artificial intelligence and robotics in medicine, evolving European law. Comparative remarks based on the surgery litigation

Abstract

This article discusses key and critical tort law issues that have arisen from artificial intelligence and robotic medical applications. It aims at addressing the most recent European regulatory trajectories – ultimately traced by the Proposal for the Artificial Intelligence Act April 21 2021 – starting from the study of the legal issues that stemmed from the instructive experience of the US litigation on robotic surgery, which was foregoing on account of its cutting-edge and accelerated enhancement of the field. The recognition and analysis of the criticalities about products’ malfunctioning as well as the focus on other producers’ duties will lead the reader to reflect on the suitability of the legal rules planned by the European Authorities on the ground of the empirical features of the new step of technological progress in the field in question.