Paying Autonomous Machines-The Bigger Question

We are hurtling headlong towards co-existing with machines. I will not write about the good or bad here-it will need a book. Instead, I would like to put forward one use case and hope people can debate this a bit. Debate and free discussion is extremely, extremely important for personal and professional progress-and the business of tech. 

Let's talk about self-driving cars as an example of autonomous machines. Well, there are several categories of autonomy but there is some of that anyway. Once we book such a car, make a payment(or commit to do so) and avail service, we are participants in the autonomous process. I am, after all, availing such a ride because I want to. That only changes if cars with drivers are no longer around or very scarce. That is unlikely to be the case for a while, from what we see. It could change, of course, but let's stick to this for the moment.  So we are willing participants. Now, the car goes and hits a cyclist. Who is liable? The car company, right? Not so fast. There is the service operator, the service brand owner(who may not be the same as the service operator), the car manufacturer and the manufacturers of the various OEM components within the car. It is possible that one entity would pay for an insurance policy. We do not know if more than one needs to or want to. But irrespective, who can be blamed by whom? How actually hit the person? The car, the driver sitting remotely(if that is the driving mode), the software enabling the driving, the other components participating in that? Or was it the passenger(that's you or me) who distracted the software by giving a command, asking something or just chatting about something?

Why is this consequential to payments? Because by promising to pay or by paying, you have accepted service and joined the ecosystem. In a driverless car, you are a potential participant. You are also a witness. There isn't a driver who is an entity separate from the car and can deal with you with the same basis of understanding that you have. There is also precedence. But with the machine, you are not in sync. Sure, you can press a button and speak to someone(a human being) once the car has hit the cyclist. But who's to say that your conduct as a passenger will not come under scrutiny as the case move through a legal process? After all, you are the only human being in the vehicle. 

As we deal with machines more and more and engage with ecosystems that have a high degree of autonomy, we will have to think about ethical and legal issues. Mostly, the issues will begin with contracts. Payment or promise to pay.