Monika Simmler

About

Monika Simmler is a leading voice at the intersection of criminal law, legal theory, and artificial intelligence. Her research fundamentally rethinks how legal systems should respond to a world where non-human agents cause harm. Her most influential work, "Guilty Robots? – Rethinking the Nature of Culpability and Legal Personhood in an Age of Artificial Intelligence" (2018, 54 citations), challenges the very foundations of criminal culpability, asking whether traditional concepts of guilt and legal personhood can—or should—be extended to autonomous systems. This paper has become a cornerstone in the debate on AI and criminal responsibility. Simmler further explores these themes in German-language works like "Roboter in der Verantwortung?" (2017), where she revisits the concept of functional guilt in the context of robotic actors. Expanding her interdisciplinary lens, her report "Soziale Roboter, Empathie und Emotionen" (2021) investigates the emotional and empathic dimensions of human-robot interaction, bridging law, psychology, and technology. By questioning whether a robot can be a "subject" of law rather than merely a tool, Simmler is shaping the future of legal accountability in an age of intelligent machines.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Guilty Robots? – Rethinking the Nature of Culpability and Legal Personhood in an Age of Artificial Intelligence

   54 citations · 2018
2. 2
   Roboter in der Verantwortung?

   10 citations · 2017
3. 3
   Soziale Roboter, Empathie und Emotionen - Eine Untersuchung aus interdisziplinärer Perspektive

   4 citations · 2021
4. 4
   Roboter in der Verantwortung? – Zur Neuauflage der Debatte um den funktionalen Schuldbegriff

   2 citations · 2017

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links