The past decade has witnessed a “global race for the development of artificial intelligence (AI)”. More recently the global awareness about ethical concerns and various risks related to AI have increased in parallel to the hype about its potential benefits, as it is reflected in the adoption of the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI in November 2021. This means that the narrative of a race for the development of AI has now been expanded to a “global race to the regulation of AI”, as several leading jurisdictions in this field have proposed or already adopted national legislation on AI or matters related to AI. For instance, the European Union (EU) has agreed on the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA) in December 2023, initially proposed in April 2021 as a comprehensive effort to guarantee a safe and trustworthy use of AI. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has chosen a more sectoral regulatory approach and already adopted a number of national laws related to AI, such as the 2023 Provisions on the Administration of Algorithm-generated Recommendations for Internet Information Services, Provisions on the Administration of Deep Synthesis of Internet-based Information Services and the Interim Measures for the Administration of Generative Artificial Intelligence Services. In late October 2023, even the United States became active and adopted the Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence while several other jurisdictions are pondering binding legislation on AI as well.

This narrative, however, has been criticized to bear some dangers to global peace and security. It is also misconceived, as the better option would be to pursue a “race to the global regulation of AI”. Although it can be expected that the future regulation of AI will mainly focus and materialize on the national level, the cross-cutting, cross-boundary and all pervasive nature of AI in combination with other technologies and innovations requires for parallel regulatory efforts to be taken at the global level. Moreover, some of the disruptive aspects of AI raise the question as to what extent the regulation of AI requires new modes of legal thinking and regulation as to allow for the necessary profound institutional reforms and adequate changes to the legal systems in their entirety to happen.

The primary objective of this workshop is to provide a comprehensive socio-technological and regulatory overview of the actions taken by China and the EU in the field of artificial intelligence. This serves a dual purpose: firstly, to gain valuable insights into the disruptive effects that AI has on human lives and national legal systems; and secondly, to utilize these insights in preparing for better global coordination and cooperation in the regulation and governance of AI.

With this workshop, we aim to collect a critical number of contributions in different areas of AI law that not only reflect the fundamental challenges posed by its disruptive effects but also offer novel solutions for future research supporting the law and policymaking process in this rapidly evolving area of technology.

Please click here to find the event agenda.

We look forward to your active participation and valuable contribution through navigating the intricate intersections of artificial intelligence across diverse disciplines.

For more information about IAS, please visit the website of IAS at https://ias.um.edu.mo/. Should you have any questions or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact us at ias.programme@um.edu.mo.