Civil Liability for Environmental Damages Arising from the Use of Artificial Intelligence Technologies in Fertilizers and Pesticides: An Analytical Comparative Study

Abstract

This study explores civil liability for environmental damages arising from the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in fertilizers and pesticides, adopting an analytical and comparative approach across national and international contexts. While AI applications in agriculture have enhanced productivity, resource efficiency, and crop management, they simultaneously generate complex risks, including pollution of soil, water, and air, biodiversity loss, and adverse impacts on human health. These risks raise fundamental legal challenges regarding causation, responsibility attribution, and compensation mechanisms. The research problem centers on the adequacy of traditional civil liability rules in addressing such damages and ensuring fair remedies. The study employs analytical and comparative methodologies, examining civil and environmental legal texts, judicial trends, and legislative approaches, with particular focus on Jordanian and French frameworks. The literature review reveals persistent gaps: globally, operational and institutional mechanisms remain underdeveloped; in Arab scholarship, legislative provisions and evidentiary tools are insufficient; and in national contexts, judicial practice is limited, with reliance on general civil rules that fail to capture the complexity of AI-related environmental harms.
Findings indicate that existing liability frameworks are inadequate to address the distinctive nature of environmental damage linked to smart agricultural technologies. The study recommends enacting specialized legislation, empowering environmental associations and public authorities to initiate collective actions, modernizing evidentiary standards to ease the burden of proof, and strengthening environmental funds to guarantee compensation when direct responsibility cannot be established. These measures are essential to bridge the gap between doctrinal innovation and practical enforcement, and to achieve a balance between technological advancement, sustainable development, and environmental justice.