Concern 862 · Working draft · editorial review in progress
Negligence and duty of care
Negligence concerns a failure to take legally required reasonable care that causes harm, including when someone develops or uses AI.
Understanding the concern
An error alone does not automatically prove negligence. A claim generally asks whether a duty of care existed, whether the person or organization fell short, and whether that failure caused harm. The expected care depends on context: a casual writing aid and a safety-critical tool present different questions.
AI can complicate the evidence because several teams may contribute to a system and its deployment. Imagine a building inspector relying on an untested calculator despite obvious warnings. The issue is the care taken in the circumstances, not whether a computer was involved. Testing, training, monitoring and responding to known problems can all help explain the decisions people made.
An example
A service uses an AI tool for an important task without checking a known limitation, and a person is harmed as a result.
Illustrative unless identified as a documented case.
Words in plain English
- AI
- Software that learns patterns from examples or uses rules to perform tasks such as recognizing images or generating text. It can make mistakes and does not understand every situation as a person would.
- Training
- The process of using examples to shape how an AI model behaves. Learning patterns from material does not establish that the material is true or fair.
Evidence and its limits
CACI 400 is a California illustration of negligence elements. It does not determine liability in a hypothetical AI case or establish one standard for every country.
Judicial Council of California · Jury instructions
California Civil Jury Instructions, 2026, CACI 400 ↗ (opens in a new tab)General California negligence elements; application to any AI dispute depends on facts and applicable law.
Broader frameworks and background
These resources provide context. They do not establish every claim in this concern.
- EU AI Act — high-level summary (opens in a new tab)
regulation
- Council of Europe AI Convention (opens in a new tab)
regulation
- International humanitarian law (IHL)
framework
The body of law that governs the conduct of armed conflict and the protection of people who are not fighting, which applies to AI used in or for conflict.
- Deciding under algorithms: artificial intelligence and the protection of civilian infrastructure in armed conflict (opens in a new tab)
guidance
- ICRC law and policy hub on AI (opens in a new tab)
guidance
People and organizations cited
Public writing, not endorsement, partnership, or affiliation.
International Committee of the Red Cross
A question to discuss
What reasonable precautions were appropriate for this use, and how did any failure contribute to the harm?
Keep track of different views, what needs checking, and any next step in your own discussion notes.
Open discussion notes →Principles for the conversation
Before you finish · reflect together
Virtues and principles to consider
Virtues are qualities we practice in how we treat people and make choices. They are not scores for judging someone. Use these ideas to explore what a thoughtful response could look like.
Justice
Justice means fair treatment, fair procedures, and attention to who receives benefits and burdens. It asks whether people with less power can be heard and seek repair.
Look at outcomes across different groups and individual cases. Provide a usable way to challenge decisions and correct harm. Equal wording in a policy does not guarantee equal treatment in practice.
Ask together: Who benefits, who bears the cost, and who can challenge the decision?
Accountability
Accountability means being answerable for decisions and taking responsibility for repair. It requires more than saying that the software made the choice.
Name the person or team responsible, keep useful records, and give them authority to correct problems. Make the route to a complaint clear to the people affected.
Ask together: Who will answer for the outcome and help put things right?
Dignity
Dignity means recognizing each person's worth regardless of usefulness, status, or a system's score. People deserve respect and a voice in matters that affect them.
Explain important decisions, avoid humiliating treatment, and keep room for a person's story. Do not treat a prediction as a complete account of who someone is.
Ask together: Does this use treat each person as someone whose experience matters?
Editorial ratings
These are editorial judgments from the register, not measured probabilities or predictions about your situation.
About the register and scoring →More ways to explore
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