As the world waits for self-driving vehicles to hit the market, automakers and insurance companies continue to debate the topic of liability. If an autonomous car hits another vehicle, is the driver responsible or the car? Tesla surprised experts recently by stating that drivers should keep both hands on the wheel at all times in its self-driving cars, which goes against the thinking that these cars will free drivers from responsibility. Volvo, on the other hand, has a different view of the liability manufacturers face for their automobiles. In late 2015, the company admitted it will take the blame when drivers get into an accident in one of their self-driving vehicles.

Fear of our jobs being replaced by machines dates all the way back to the invention of the cotton gin in 1793 and maybe even earlier. But as new machines, computers, and robots are developed and jobs are lost, we have learned new jobs are created: programmers, code-writers, and so on, and society adapts. However, as technology continues to advance, the artificial intelligence capabilities of some of these new "machines" make them seem more human than ever. As a lawyer, it makes you wonder: Can these new iPeople be held liable? Think about the bank teller and the fear he must have experienced when the invention of the ATM was announced, or the cashier when self-checkout was introduced.