Legal Accountability for Artificial Intelligence Creations in Industry 4.0

Comparative Study of Indonesia, United States, and Thailand

Abstract

The development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the era of Industry 4.0 has moved beyond technical assistance and evolved into autonomous systems capable of generating creations, decisions, and outputs with direct legal consequences. This transformation poses a fundamental challenge to national legal systems that are normatively constructed on the assumption that legal subjects possess free will and moral capacity. The resulting mismatch gives rise to an accountability gap, particularly in determining legal responsibility for autonomously generated AI creations. This article aims to analyze and compare the legal accountability frameworks governing AI-generated creations in Indonesia, the United States, and Thailand, while proposing an ideal model of legal reconstruction to ensure legal certainty amid the absence of binding international regulation. This study employs normative legal research using comparative and conceptual approaches, based on an analysis of statutory regulations, legal doctrines, and relevant judicial decisions. The findings demonstrate that all three jurisdictions consistently reject the recognition of AI as a legal subject, yet adopt different accountability mechanisms. Indonesia emphasizes administrative responsibility and presumption of liability; the United States relies on product liability and the cheapest cost avoider doctrine; while Thailand adopts a progressive risk-based regulatory approach through preventive liability and regulatory sandboxes. The comparative analysis reveals the structural limitations of fault-based liability doctrines in addressing the autonomous and black-box nature of AI systems. The study concludes that legal certainty can only be achieved through an adaptive accountability reconstruction model integrating the principle of ubi commodum ibi onus, a risk-based approach, strict liability, reversed burden of proof, and the clear attribution of responsibility to human actors or legal entities as primary liable parties. Accordingly, this article recommends comprehensive national legislative reform to institutionalize such a model in order to ensure fair, effective, and future-oriented legal protection in the era of Industry 4.0