School of Business and Law

3 November 2022 - Robotics and automation: Legal policy and ethical implications

3 November 2022 - Robotics and automation: Legal policy and ethical implications

In recent decades, there have been rapid technological advances in the automation of decision-making through artificial intelligence and robotics. These ground-breaking advances have the potential to significantly improve human life in a vast array of contexts and circumstances.

Examples include improving the economy by making the commercial activity more efficient, improving overall human well-being due to advances in healthcare, and reducing the number and severity of road accidents through the automation of driving. However, automated decision-making systems pose many challenges to existing regulations, raising important questions about law, public policy, and ethical issues.

• What barriers do current laws present?
• What policy issues need to be addressed at State and Federal Government levels?
• What moral and ethical issues arise, and how should we respond to them?

Where:   Fraser Suites

Time:      5:00pm – 8:00pm

This forum featured the following presenters;

Hon. Alannah MacTiernan MLC, Minister for Regional Development, Agriculture and Food; and Hydrogen Industry

Alannah MacTiernan is Western Australia’s Minister for Regional Development, Agriculture and Food, and Hydrogen Industry. The Minister has held several Ministerial positions and first served in the State Parliament from 1993 to 2010 and in the Federal Parliament from 2013-2016.

As Minister for Planning and Infrastructure from 2001 to 2008, Ms MacTiernan was responsible for major projects across the State including the Mandurah rail line, the Forrest Highway, the Geraldton port and rail expansion and the Armadale town centre and Champion Lakes developments. The Minister understands the unique role of government as an enabler of development and is committed to growing economic opportunities in our regional areas as well as bringing WA's agricultural sector into the 21st century through innovation with a focus on long-term planning and investing in research science.

Hon Bill Johnston MLA, Minister for Mines and Petroleum, Energy, Corrective Services and Industrial Relations

The Hon. Bill Johnston is Western Australia's Minister for Mines and Petroleum, Energy, Corrective Services and Industrial Relations. He has been a Minister for the McGowan Labor Government since March 2017, and was previously Minister for Commerce, Electoral Affairs, and Asian Engagement.

His achievements include cutting red-tape for the mining industry, introducing the Work Health and Safety Bill (industrial manslaughter provisions) and assisting in revolutionising WA’s energy system. In Opposition he served as Shadow Minister for State Development and Energy from 2012, and Shadow Minister for Mines and Petroleum from 2013. He was a Member of the Economics and Industry Standing Committee and Deputy Chair of the Inquiry into Domestic Gas Prices from 2010 to 2011. Prior to entering Parliament, he was the State Secretary of WA Labor from 2001 until 2008.

Mr David Wilson, founder and principal of Stratocumulus Legal

David Wilson is the founder and principal of Stratocumulus Legal, a legal consultancy established in mid-2020 that focuses on intellectual property and related areas of law.  Prior to this, he had some 20 years’ experience at global law firms, including a 2-year in-house secondment at a major corporation in Tokyo.

David’s work sees him advising businesses around identifying, protecting, defending, and exploiting their intellectual property, while guarding and responding against claims made by others, all against the backdrop of emerging technologies and the onward advance of digital technology, artificial intelligence, and automation. He operates his practice flexibly around his family and children and is also a member of the committee of management of the Australia-Japan Society of Western Australia.

Dr Martin Allcock, Senior Lecturer in Law, ECU

Dr Martin Allcock is a Senior Lecturer within the law school at Edith Cowan University, where he teaches a number of subjects including Torts, Jurisprudence and Family Law.

Prior to entering academia in 2011, Martin practiced law in commercial insurance matters and in family law. Martin has a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Bachelor of Behavioural Science from La Trobe University, and a PhD from Queensland University of Technology.

Martin has published journal articles in several highly ranked journals in the areas of the philosophy of law and theory of tort and is co-author of Remedies Cases and Materials in Private Law (Cambridge University Press, exp pub 2022). Martin’s current research focuses on civil liability issues relating to claims for compensation for injuries caused by autonomous vehicles.