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About

Ryan Abbott is a leading scholar at the intersection of artificial intelligence, law, and tax policy. His work fundamentally challenges how legal systems should treat non-human actors, most provocatively asking whether robots should pay taxes. In his highly cited 2017 paper, *Should Robots Pay Taxes? Tax Policy in the Age of Automation* (121 citations), Abbott argues that as automation displaces human labor, tax systems must adapt to prevent revenue collapse and social inequality. He expands this thesis in his influential book, *The Reasonable Robot: Artificial Intelligence and the Law* (2020), which proposes that the law should treat AI as a “reasonable person” in certain contexts—a radical yet pragmatic framework for liability, intellectual property, and regulation. Abbott’s work is notable for bridging technical feasibility with legal doctrine, making him a sought-after voice in policy debates. He also critically engages with peers, as seen in his review of Chesterman’s *We, the Robots?*, demonstrating his commitment to shaping the field’s discourse. With a growing citation footprint, Abbott is defining the legal parameters of our automated future.