October 25, 2024
Professor Bryant Walker Smith will describe the hype and, increasingly, the reality of automated driving. He will dispel some common misconceptions about automated driving. He will then argue that the popular question of whether the public trusts automated vehicles should give way to the much more important question of whether a given developer of automated vehicles is worthy of the public's trust. His theory of the trustworthy company has implications not only for the regulation of automated driving but also for other applications of AI.
Bryant Walker Smith is an associate professor in the School of Law and (by courtesy) the School of Engineering at the University of South Carolina, as well as an affiliate scholar at the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School.
Trained as a lawyer and an engineer, Smith advises cities, states, countries, and the United Nations on emerging transport technologies. He co-authored the globally influential levels of driving automation, drafted a model law for automated driving, and taught the first legal course dedicated to automated driving [pdf] (in 2012). Smith is currently writing on what it means for a company to be trustworthy. His publications are available at newlypossible.org.
Before joining the University of South Carolina, Smith led the legal aspects of the automated driving program at Stanford University, clerked for the Hon. Evan J. Wallach at the United States Court of International Trade, and worked as a fellow at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. He holds both an LL.M. in International Legal Studies and a J.D. (cum laude) from New York University School of Law and a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Wisconsin. Prior to his legal career, Smith worked as a transportation engineer.