Introduction to the Special Issue on the Man and the Machine

This special issue assembles five articles ensuing from a conference on “The Man and the Machine: When Systems Take Decisions Autonomously”, which took place on June 26 and 27, 2015, at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland. The aim of the conference was to explore the broader implications of artificial intelligence, machine learning and autonomous robots and vehicles. Alphabet's Deep Mind is just one example about Whom we know, at least a little, and who, we are told, will be good. Autonomous vehicles are also about to enter the market and our phones have begun to verbalize at us. Private drones are being regulated by the US Federal Aviation Administration. The five papers in this special issue address some of the legal issues the broader development raises. The first article is on “The Implications of Modern Business-Entity Law for the Regulation of Autonomous Systems” and is written by Shawn Bayern.