Robots are with us, but law and legal systems are not ready for them. This book identifies the issues posed by human–robot interactions in substantive law, procedural law, and law’s narratives, and suggests how to address them. When human–robot interaction results in harm, who or what is responsible? Part I addresses substantive law, including the issues raised by attempts to impose criminal liability on different actors. And when robots perceive aspects of an alleged crime, can they be called as a sort of witness? Part II addresses procedural issues raised by human–robot interactions, including evidentiary problems arising out of data generated by robots monitoring humans, and issues of reliability and privacy. Beyond the standard fare of substantive and procedural law, and in view of the conceptual quandaries posed by robots, Part III offers chapters on narrative and rhetoric, suggesting different ways to understand human–robot interactions and how to develop coherent frameworks to do that. This title is Open Access.

By 1944, the 7th Division was largely focused on a future role in amphibious warfare. Each of its subordinate infantry brigades were directed to participate in training at the Amphibious Warfare Training Centre in preparation for future operations. Although the 7th Division’s amphibious exercises Octopus and Seagull would be scenarios of proposed Australian participation in the liberation of the Philippines, ultimately the division would conduct two amphibious landings in an effort to defeat Japanese forces in Borneo. Chapters 8 and 9 will examine the 18th Brigade’s transition to an amphibious assault brigade and the conduct of the amphibious assault at Balikpapan. In order to do so, chapter 8 will provide an analysis of the evolution of modern amphibious operation, which led to the Allied doctrine and exercise model that guided the amphibious operations in the SWPA.

How is liability apportioned between the surgeon and the robot in robot-assisted surgery? In Switzerland, a surgeon’s criminal responsibility rests on an obligation of due diligence. It is generally assumed that due diligence and responsibility is divisible among team members and that each individual is responsible for their own actions. The principle of trust (“Vertrauensgrundsatz”) also establishes that a member of a team may trust other members to do their job. The issue discussed in this chapter is the degree of due diligence owed by surgeons who cooperate with robots. In Switzerland, the principle of trust is not applied to a robot assistant, if only because robots cannot be criminally liable themselves. Apart from complete robot failures, surgeons therefore bare the risk of patient injury from surgical robots, in order to avoid a responsibility gap in the law. However, given that surgical robots benefit patients and are becoming the expected standard of care in certain areas, the chapter argues that the principle of trust should be applied to limit the due diligence expected from a surgeon interacting with a robot, if the robot has been appropriately certified.

Chapter Three analyzes Rogers’ move into vaudeville , the national entertainment circuit that fascinated the American public during the first two decades of the twentieth century. The Oklahoman became a star attraction whose cowboy garb and tremendous roping skills delighted audiences all over the country. Rogers also gradually developed another skill that became his calling card – humorous commentary. As an emblem of the American West that was gradually disappearing in the wake of urban, industrial growth, and a natural humorist whose down-home jests and good-natured wisecracks delighted audiences, Rogers began to establish a national presence. This period also saw his stormy courtship of, and marriage to, Betty Blake, a young woman from back home. The marriage would last for the rest of his life.

Chapter 8 introduces Adam Olearius, resident scholar at the court of Schleswig-Holstein in the first half of the seventeenth century. His account of travels through Russia to Persia, published first in 1647 and revised and enlarged for an edition of 1656, supplanted Herberstein and continued to be the most influential resource on Russia for a century. This chapter explores how Olearius designed his copiously illustrated book and how he conducted his research, personally visiting sites, collecting material objects and interviewing anyone and everyone in the many languages he mastered. It concludes by analyzing his lengthy travel account as a “Baroque novel” and a morality tale.