Robots and (Indian) Reservations: A Jurisdictional Nightmare Waiting to Happen

Advances in artificial intelligence are expanding the possibilities of robots. Indeed, robots are now engaging in numerous activities previously thought to require human cognition, such as driving cars and diagnosing diseases. Scholars have published numerous articles examining the intersection of law and robots across myriad fields. However, legal scholarship has yet to explore the relationship between robots and federal Indian law.

This is a significant oversight because there are 574 federally recognized tribes and over fifty-six million acres of Indian country. Thus, legal issues involving tribes and robots are inevitable. This is the first law review article dedicated to exploring how robots will interact with federal Indian law. To prevent litigation over whether tribes or states have authority over robots, this Article proposes the Tribes and Robots Act (TRA).

The TRA affirms tribes have exclusive authority over the robots within Indian country. Accordingly, the TRA provides clear rules that will prevent jurisdictional disputes. Recognizing tribes have exclusive authority over the robots in Indian country also empowers tribes to experiment with robotics policies thereby contributing ideas that can inspire other governments.