AI Tort Liability: Does Negligence Law Still Apply?

Justice Speakers Institute · Dec 16, 2025

As artificial intelligence (AI) systems become more autonomous, more deeply integrated into everyday activities, and increasingly capable of initiating actions without direct human supervision, a question has emerged: Do we need entirely new liability such as AI tort liability to govern harms caused by agentic[1] decision makers? A review of negligence law suggests we may not. The principles that U.S. courts have applied for more than a century to evaluate dangerous conduct, foreseeability, risk creation, and the allocation of responsibility are fully capable of addressing AI-related harms…