AI and people do not compete on a level-playing field. Self-driving vehicles may be safer than human drivers, but laws often penalize such technology. People may provide superior customer service, but businesses are automating to reduce their taxes. AI may innovate more effectively, but an antiquated legal framework constrains inventive AI. In The Reasonable Robot, Ryan Abbott argues that the law should not discriminate between AI and human behavior and proposes a new legal principle that will ultimately improve human well-being. This work should be read by anyone interested in the rapidly evolving relationship between AI and the law.

'The Reasonable Robot provides highly original insights into one of the most important conversations of our time. Ryan Abbott brings a unique and sometimes controversial perspective to artificial intelligence as a physician, attorney, and eminent academic, but manages to present the subject in an accessible and unintimidating manner. This book is both enlightening about the future of law and artificial intelligence as well as a great read' Baron Timothy Clement-Jones, Chair of the House of Lords Artificial Intelligence Select Committee and Co-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Artificial Intelligence
'Ryan Abbott's book cuts across all kinds of fields in an effort to teach us what the future will bring. From self-driving cars to AI doctors to robots that pay taxes, he offers a comprehensive blueprint for how the law needs to change to adapt to a world where it is machines, not people, committing torts and crimes.' Mark A. Lemley, William H. Neukom Professor, Stanford University, California
'Artificial intelligence has evolved from an utopian vision to a fact of life. Thinking through how AI fits into our existing legal norms has become imperative. Ryan Abbott's book elucidates what challenges AI poses in different areas of the law and what legal principles can unleash AI's full potential for human progress. Anyone seeking insight into these questions will find this book both accessible to read and thought-provoking.' Carsten Fink, Chief Economist, World Intellectual Property Organization
'The Reasonable Robot is an important work and a riveting read that provides a fascinating picture of a future that's already here. It explores profound legal and societal questions that every one of us should care deeply about, and secures Ryan's place as a leader in the field.' Corey Salsberg, Vice President, Global Head IP Affairs, Novartis
'Professor Abbott's book offers a captivating analysis of the legal challenges that arise from the breathtaking proliferation of artificial intelligence in numerous areas of life, commercial relations and governmental decision-making. As 'AI' not only informs but increasingly drives and determines administrative procedures as well as policy choices, questions of liability require utmost scrutiny and must be seen in close connection with issues around agency, representation and legitimacy. In trying to understand the legal conundrum posed by robots' astonishing ascendance, this book is an excellent guide.' Peer Zumbansen, Founding Director, Transnational Law Institute, King's College London
'This relatively thin book is densely packed with cross-over concepts of a large number of examples of machine generated inventions and potential legal challenges, taking various fragments of unique and high-level research from Ryan Abbott's professional life as a licensed physician, patent attorney and US professor of law as well as solicitor advocate in England and Wales.' Ursula Smartt, European Intellectual Property Review
'… a lucid, jargon-free, and thorough examination of the effect AI is having on policy right now, rather than in a projected or possible future. The book will be of interest to upper secondary through postgraduate readers with some interest in AI, as well as to concerned professionals and researchers.' M. J. Moore, Choice
'This work should be read by anyone interested in the rapidly evolving relationship between AI and the law.' Christian Mammen, Practice Source
'… an accessible and illuminating account of the problems AI poses for law - and those that law, for the time being, might pose for AI.' Simon Chesterman, International and Comparative Law Quarterly

Ryan Abbott, M.D., J.D., M.T.O.M., Ph.D., is Professor of Law and Health Sciences at the School of Law, University of Surrey, and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. A physician and patent attorney, Abbott's research on law and technology has helped shape the international dialogue on these topics. He has served as an expert for the World Health Organization, the World Intellectual Property Organization, the European Commission, and the UK Parliament. Abbott also spearheaded the first patent applications to disclose inventions made autonomously by an AI. In 2019, he was named one of the top 50 in Intellectual Property by Managing IP magazine.