Who is Responsible? Experts on the Liability & Ethics of Autonomous Decisions
What happens when the machines we build to serve us start making choices we can no longer explain—or reverse?
As humanoid robots wave hello in homes and self-driving fleets claim city streets, a chilling question rises above the hype: who decides where the line is drawn between convenience and control?
This Techronicler investigation confronts the uncomfortable truth: every breakthrough in autonomy quietly shifts power from human hands to hidden algorithms.
From consent in public spaces to bias baked into training data, from skill erosion to unfair risk distribution, the leaders shaping tomorrow’s infrastructure reveal the ethical landmines no press release dares mention.
Their answers expose a stark 2025 reality: the companies that win public trust won’t be the fastest to deploy—they’ll be the ones brave enough to build guardrails before the public demands them.
Read on!
Documentation and Audit Systems Drive Ethical Compliance
The ethical framework depends on documentation systems and audit tracking mechanisms to operate as its fundamental components.
All major system updates and configuration changes and significant incidents need to have traceable records to establish clear responsibility.
A structured version history system allows organizations to perform investigations more quickly while achieving better results.
The rapid growth of technology requires compliance systems to maintain their speed of adaptation at the same level.
The existing safety and data protection regulations continue to operate because no new laws have been created.
Organizations that adopt new standards before their official requirement demonstrate their commitment to safeguarding public safety.
Organizations which disclose safety information and privacy details and their corrective actions through public reports will establish trust with their audience while showing accountability.
Organizations that provide regular updates show their continuous performance monitoring activities and their work to fix system problems that have been identified.
The practice of reporting data consistently leads to increased customer trust throughout multiple reporting periods.
James Scribner
Co-Founder, The Freedom Center
Safety Cases and Liability Define Autonomous Systems
Safety functions as the fundamental foundation for both humanoid systems and self-driving technologies instead of serving as a mandatory requirement.
Organizations need to implement high-risk engineering principles through formal safety cases and independent hazard analysis and deployment pause requirements based on rising incident rates.
The demonstration of average performance superiority over human drivers through average metrics does not address the problem of infrequent yet dangerous system failures.
The second essential element for this system is liability management.
The process of assigning responsibility to autonomous system incidents needs to follow a path that connects hardware manufacturers to software developers and system operators.
The system needs contractual agreements and insurance frameworks and reporting protocols which prevent victims from becoming responsible for accidents that they did not control.
Organizations need to handle all near-miss incidents with the same level of severity as actual accidents.
The sharing of anonymized post-incident reviews with regulators and researchers will enhance safety standards for all companies within the ecosystem instead of benefiting a single organization.
Brian Chasin
CFO & Co-Founder, SOBA New Jersey
Community Oversight Addresses Unequal Risk Distribution
The first ethical problem arises from how different groups face different levels of risk exposure.
The testing process for early deployments focuses on particular neighborhoods which results in certain communities bearing the testing risks while others get to benefit from the technology at a later time.
Organizations need to create maps showing pilot locations while establishing oversight systems that involve local residents.
The second problem affects how users access these systems.
The development of systems for typical users tends to disregard users who have disabilities and those who speak different languages and lack digital competencies.
The development of inclusive designs requires both diverse user testing and functional feedback systems.
The ethical review process needs to incorporate community participation instead of relying only on internal teams because it helps detect non-technical impacts.
Sean Smith
Founder & CEO, Alpas Wellness
Robots Must Respect Dignity and Personal Boundaries
Humanoid robots create problems regarding human dignity.
People experience a loss of personal identity when machines enter their private areas because they start to view them as work objects instead of people.
The design process needs to focus on creating systems which respect user consent while maintaining personal boundaries and providing simple methods to stop or decline interactions.
People develop excessive emotional bonds with machines because these robots display human-like characteristics.
People tend to share personal details and develop emotional dependence on machines because they resemble humans.
Organizations need to prevent machines from showing emotional traits while they should limit their storage capacity for sensitive user data.
Robotic systems need to function as supplements to human relationships instead of replacing essential human interactions that require direct human involvement.
Tzvi Heber
CEO & Counselor, Ascendant New York
Workforce Automation Demands Retraining and Mental Support
The main ethical problem arises from how automation affects the workforce.
Organizations need to identify which positions will become obsolete so they can provide training programs instead of treating former employees as secondary considerations.
The process demands organizations to maintain open communication while providing financial support for employee skill development.
Staff members who work with machines that track and replace their decisions need to face psychological challenges at work.
Organizations need to track employee mental health and their feelings about being monitored at work.
Organizations must prevent efficiency gains from resulting in dangerous workplace staffing numbers.
The use of automation to reduce staff numbers beyond safe limits will endanger public safety.
Maddy Nahigyan
Chief Operating Officer, Ocean Recovery
Bias and Transparency Require Independent Testing Systems
Bias stands as a major problem that needs immediate attention.
The learning process of these systems depends on historical data which leads to unequal performance results between different groups and environments.
The system requires independent testing and ongoing monitoring to verify its fairness.
The lack of transparency stands as the second major problem.
Users need to understand the reasons behind different machine behaviors in specific situations.
The evaluation process needs to be disclosed to the public while independent testing should be made available.
Organizations need to prevent themselves from exaggerating their system abilities.
People who incorrectly believe systems have complete autonomy face dangerous situations because they misuse these systems and develop excessive trust.
Joshua Zeises
CEO & CMO, Paramount Wellness Retreat
Incident Reporting Culture Prevents Future System Failures
Organizations need to establish an incident-reporting culture as their main ethical protection system.
Organizations need to establish simple reporting systems which protect employees and the public from blame when they detect unusual system behavior.
The system requires scheduled review sessions to verify report processing and maintain direct system enhancement pathways.
Each reported incident needs to undergo a systematic evaluation process which includes identifying causes and implementing changes and delivering specific information about system modifications.
The organization learns from one mistake through this process which prevents future failures from occurring.
Organizations that establish learning as their standard practice will achieve sustained safety improvements.
Staff members require essential training as their first priority.
Staff members who oversee these systems require specific training about system intervention methods and override procedures and public system restriction explanations.
Staff members can maintain their readiness for unexpected situations through regular simulation training and scenario-based drills.
Ryan Hetrick
Co-Founder, Epiphany Wellness
Automation Risks Erode Essential Skills and Awareness
The implementation of these technologies creates concerns about their impact on human behavior in daily life.
The complete automation of small tasks and decisions by machines could result in people forgetting essential skills and their ability to understand their surroundings.
Users need to perform manual tasks occasionally to maintain their self-reliance and confidence.
The protection of children represents a critical safety concern.
All physical systems that move or interact need to meet exact requirements for force output and speed limits and fail-safe emergency shutdowns.
Parents need direct instructions about safe device usage to avoid misunderstandings while developing trust in the technology.
The deployment of these technologies requires educational programs to teach users about their operational limits.
Users need to understand the capabilities and limitations of these machines because this knowledge affects their safety particularly when they are young.
Schools should teach robotics basics to students because this education creates accurate expectations about future technology use.
Timothy Brooks
CEO & Co-Founder, Synergy Houses
Consent and Diverse Oversight Improve Deployment Success
The development of autonomous machines for public areas requires designers to possess skills beyond technical expertise.
The design teams need to grasp how users behave during stressful situations and how minor interface elements influence their actions.
The combination of actual case notes and user reports during a brief training session produces better results than extensive theoretical instruction.
The requirement for consent stands as a common oversight in these situations.
Organizations need to use basic visual indicators which demonstrate device operations and recording activities because users will not read policy documents.
People tend to stop at specific locations so placing simple alerts there produces better results than using complex legal statements.
The system requires proper oversight during its development stage.
A person from outside the development team should review the deployment plan to identify operational risks which the team might have overlooked before system expansion.
A diverse group of people with different backgrounds can identify critical problems which will enhance the success of a deployment.
Joel Butterly
CEO & Founder, InGenius Prep
On behalf of the Techronicler community of readers, we thank these leaders and experts for taking the time to share valuable insights that stem from years of experience and in-depth expertise in their respective niches.
If you wish to showcase your experience and expertise, participate in industry-leading discussions, and add visibility and impact to your personal brand and business, get in touch with the Techronicler team to feature in our fast-growing publication.
