제조물책임법 개정 방향 - 인공지능(소프트웨어)의 제조물성 인정 여부를 중심으로 -

The direction of revision of the Product Liability Act was discussed focusing on whether to recognize artificial intelligence(software) as a product. The discussion situation in foreign countries was examined and conclusions were drawn by aggregating the discussion situation in Korea and foreign countries. While there have been no cases of legislating software as a product under the Product Liability Act, the discussions in various countries show that legislative conditions are maturing. In Korea, although it is a lower court ruling, a precedent in which the software is recognized as a product is also found. If software is recognized as a product under the Product Liability Act, it may be pointed out that it could choke software developers’ willingness to innovate, which could undermine software industrial growth, as suggested by the theories of American scholars. However, if a software developer claims that the technology at the time of manufacturing the software could not detect any defects in the software, the developer will be indemnified(the so-called ‘development risk defence’). It is not expected that the situation that the scholar is concerned about will occur. The Article 98 of the Korean Civil Act stipulates that things mentioned in this Act shall mean corporeal things, electricity, and other natural forces which can be managed. Software is the flow of electricity. It is possible to interpret electrical and other natural forces to capture software as a product. However, it is important to clarify the controversial part of the interpretation. A key element of artificial intelligence is ‘software’. Amendments to the Product Liability Act will need to be made to incorporate software into the concept of a product.