Emily Silverman

About

Emily Silverman is a legal scholar whose research sits at the cutting edge of criminal law and emerging technology, with a particular focus on the accountability challenges posed by artificial intelligence and autonomous systems. Her most influential work, "If Robots Cause Harm, Who is to Blame? Self-Driving Cars and Criminal Liability" (2016), has garnered over 170 citations and established her as a leading voice in the field. In it, Silverman confronts one of the most pressing jurisprudential puzzles of the modern era: when a self-driving car or other robot causes serious harm, traditional frameworks of criminal responsibility struggle to identify a culpable human actor. Her analysis demonstrates that robots, lacking the cognitive capacity for intent or self-conception, cannot themselves bear criminal liability — forcing a fundamental rethinking of how law must adapt to technological realities. Her more recent contribution, "Robot Testimony?" (2024), signals an expanding research agenda that now interrogates the evidentiary dimensions of AI, asking whether and how robotic systems might function as witnesses in legal proceedings. Across her body of work, Silverman consistently bridges technical complexity and legal doctrine, making her scholarship essential reading for anyone grappling with the governance of autonomous technologies.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   If Robots cause harm, Who is to blame? Self-driving Cars and Criminal Liability

   170 citations · 2016
2. 2
   If Robots Cause Harm, Who is to Blame? Self-Driving Cars and Criminal Liability

   42 citations · 2016
3. 3
   Robot Testimony?

   2 citations · 2024

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links