Robot 'Protest' in Warsaw Raises Question: Who's Liable for AI?

On September 7, an unusual demonstration took place in Warsaw, Poland. About 30 humanoid and quadruped robots gathered in front of the Polish Digital Affairs Ministry, waving flags and broadcasting slogans like 'Defend jobs,' 'Time to set rules,' and 'Don't wait, regulate now' through speakers.

The event was organized by a Polish group called Democratism, which says its goal is to spark discussion on how AI and robotization affect the labor market. Organizer Grzegorz Kuliś said the robots were used to show that the technology is 'already a reality' and stressed the need for 'rules and regulations to protect workers.' However, this 'protest' was actually a PR stunt orchestrated by humans. Kuliś is the CIO of robotics company Delta Robots and CEO of a staffing agency, making the commercial motive hard to ignore.

The real issue behind this spectacle is an increasingly urgent question: when AI systems participate in economic and social activities and cause harm, who is responsible? This question is sparking policy debates worldwide.

In June 2026, Argentine President Milei submitted a bill to Congress proposing a new legal category of 'non-human companies'—firms owned and operated entirely by AI agents or robots. Milei argued that granting AI legal personhood would make these entities 'easier to govern' by bringing them into the legal system. Historian Yuval Noah Harari publicly opposed the idea. In a Financial Times article, he warned that giving AI agents legal personhood would give them a 'master key' to financial, economic, and political systems, while no human could be held accountable when problems arise.

An analysis by MIT Technology Review in August pointed out that current discussions about AI 'consciousness' and 'rights' may serve a hidden purpose: allowing companies that build these systems to evade responsibility.

When tech companies describe AI as 'autonomous,' 'conscious,' or 'beyond human control,' they imply that no one should be held responsible for the harm these systems cause, because even their creators cannot control them. This narrative was also reflected in the Polish robot 'protest.' The organizers emphasized that 'these robots can already move freely, they are already protesting,' but this obscures a basic fact: the robots' actions are entirely programmed and controlled by humans.