Civil Liability for Damages Arising from Artificial Intelligence and Digital Tools: A Comparative Analytical Study in Light of European Legislative Developments and the Position of Algerian Civil Law
Keywords:
Black Box, Defective Products, Legal Presumptions, AI Act, Algorithmic Bias, Product Liability DirectiveAbstract
This article examines the question of civil liability for damages caused by artificial intelligence systems and digital tools through a comparative analytical study encompassing contemporary European legislative developments and the Algerian civil law framework. The study reveals a structural deficiency inherent in the classical rules of civil liability—whether in the provisions governing the custodian's liability for things or in product liability regimes—when confronted with the adaptive characteristics and operational autonomy that define intelligent systems. This deficiency generates acute evidentiary dilemmas, particularly in light of the "black box" phenomenon, thereby placing victims' rights at serious risk of irremediable loss. By contrast, European legislation—embodied in the Artificial Intelligence Act of 2024 and the updated Product Liability Directive (EU) 2024/2853—adopts a flexible strict liability regime that reconfigures the boundaries of proof through legal presumptions and broadens the scope of compensable damages. Algerian legislation, conversely, remains anchored in concise traditional provisions that neither accommodate the dynamics of algorithmic code nor recognize the causal presumptions necessary to protect injured parties, thereby necessitating comprehensive and systematic legislative reform.
References
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