Karrer cares | Robot in leather pants

Do we also have to protect ourselves from robots in leather pants? Photo: IMAGO/Lackovic “We were warned about this in the films – and now it has become reality,” someone commented on Facebook. In Munich, a man kicked over a robot and the machine then gave chase. Welcome to the age in which the horror scenarios from “Terminator” are apparently taking place on our sidewalks.

But the thing was less science fiction than it initially seemed: the robot, which was walking around Munich's Westend in leather trousers and a traditional hat, was controlled by its owner, who was further away, by remote control. His fighting movements were apparently intended to be playful, but the passer-by felt threatened by them and wanted to kick him away. The men then apologized to each other.

But another incident cannot be explained so easily: Last week in Cologne, a humanoid robot is said to have touched a 16-year-old on the buttocks and made thrusting movements against her body. The young owner and his 19-year-old companion are said to have filmed the scene, broadcast it online and commented on it live.

At this point, Leni Karrer dedicates herself to paid care work and writes every two weeks about phenomenal things from pop culture, the digital world and feminism.

Such cases show the incomplete legal situation in Germany and the EU when it comes to humanoid robots. Because who is responsible if an AI system commits attacks or causes damage: the manufacturer or the owner? In the Cologne case, the police are now checking whether the movements were deliberately controlled.

However, when a machine commits an act that could not have been predicted, things get complicated. There is currently a product liability law that was developed for car tires and toasters and has little use for learning software. At the beginning of October, the Bundestag passed a reform of product liability law that includes AI systems. Manufacturers should also be responsible for errors that arise from software updates, for example.

However, the reform only affects damage caused by defective products - it does not create general liability for every unforeseeable action by a robot. The originally planned separate EU AI liability directive, which was intended to additionally regulate the handling of damage caused by AI systems, was withdrawn in 2025.

While we ask ourselves how we protect ourselves from robots, it's also worth looking in the other direction: "Robot Abuse" describes targeted violence by people against machines. In the USA, delivery robots are often kicked, knocked over or vandalized. Research has long been concerned with the phenomenon. The motives are curiosity and the playful testing of boundaries, but also fears of an uncertain AI future and the loss of job and control.

As AI moves into more and more areas of life, we will face many more challenges. So we not only have to clarify legally who is liable when robots injure people. We also have to deal with what these machines trigger in us as a society.

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