Woodrow Barfield and Ugo Pagallo, Advanced Introduction to Law and Artificial Intelligence reviewed by Carolin Kemper

Abstract

This is a condensation of the same authors' Research Handbook on the Law of Artificial Intelligence (2018), which presents legal issues arising from the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) to a broad audience. Barfield and Pagallo wrote this abridged version to offer an easily accessible introduction to law and AI for law students, legal practitioners and non-legal experts.AI is pervading business as well as our social and private lives -up to the point where we interact with some form of AI daily. These systems are becoming increasingly smart, and we must deal with the consequences of their incremental autonomy. Our legal systems are not yet equipped to handle these novel challenges and are in need of new and innovative regulatory strategies.The authors start with a brief account of the fundamental concepts of AI to introduce lawyers to the subject matter. Subsequently, they explain relevant legal notions and legal situations in a comprehensible manner for both law students and non-lawyers. They present a concise overview of human rights frameworks and constitutional law, although their emphasis is on business-related law (data protection, intellectual property, antitrust and business law). In doing so, they analyse EU and US law comparatively, which provides valuable insights for law students into other legal systems as well as a felicitous approach to discussion of different regulatory strategies.