Who's liable? Legal accountability in the age of AI

AI: transformation or turmoil for our legal landscape?

AI introduces complexities to legal liability that established principles have yet to address; illuminating the tension between our current legal framework and rapidly advancing technology. The Law Commission’s recent discussion paper, AI and the Law, released in July 2025, aims to spark a broad conversation about how existing legal frameworks are being tested by the autonomy and adaptiveness of modern AI systems. Rather than proposing immediate reforms, the discussion paper highlights areas where current laws may struggle to keep pace, such as:

• liability gaps and legal personality of AI;
• causation, accountability and oversight;
• training of AI models and risks inherent in datasets;
• data management and protection;
• the “black box” problem of AI decision-making;
• and sector specific concerns

Framing the discussion

Much of the popular debate about AI focuses on whether AI will empower and elevate humanity, or enslave and eclipse our existence – the academic debate continues, but what steps can businesses take now to proactively respond to what is undoubtedly a widespread technical and economic watershed moment?

In a series of 5 briefings, we focus on one of the most important commercial and contractual risk topics, namely who might be liable in the world of widespread adoption of AI and how they might be so. We are doing this by focussing on five key questions:

1. Part 1: The AI Liability Gap: Are existing laws capable of responding to AI-related liability?

2. Part 2: Can businesses predict the risk, and therefore be held responsible for, harm caused by autonomous, adaptive AI?

3. Part 3: What evidence will be available to navigate these liability issues and prove fault?

4. Part 4: Which sectors are currently under the spotlight and why?

5. Part 5: Contracting considerations – what is the best approach to take?

Throughout this series, we will examine how businesses need to examine the legal liability challenges posed by AI through the lens of contractual risk, while regulatory and legislative frameworks continue to evolve.

In Part 1, we go back to basics, looking at legal liability in commercial scenarios, how AI may create a glitch in the system and the contractual risk areas arising.