# Free Will, Agency, and Responsibility

If AI makes decisions, who is responsible? This sub-article expands [Section 1.3 of Philosophy](../philosophy.md).

## Agency and Autonomy
- **Agency**: the capacity to act toward goals.
- Increasingly autonomous systems (vehicles, medical AI, weapons) raise accountability questions.

## Responsibility
- Legal and moral responsibility traditionally requires intention and knowledge.
- AI systems lack intent; responsibility falls to designers, operators, and institutions.
- **Moral machines**: how should automated systems weigh lives and trade-offs?

## Free Will
- If AI is deterministic, can it "choose"? Philosophical debates transfer to machines.
- In practice, we assign responsibility through rules, oversight, and liability.

## Why It Matters
As AI acts in the world, societies need frameworks for blame, compensation, and control.

## Sources
- Floridi, L. & Sanders, J. (2004). *On the Morality of Artificial Agents.*
- Matthias, A. (2004). *The responsibility of an artificial agent.*

*Back to [Philosophy](../philosophy.md).*