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LLM MODULE SYLLABUS
Module Code MVV347K
Module Title AI, Law, and Governance
Module convenor: Dr Michaela MacDonald
michaela.macdonald@qmul.ac.uk
Module Overview
The evolving area of AI and robotics gives rise to many ethical and legal questions over the status
of robots, the rights and responsibilities arising from their use and liability for any harm caused.
The module will explore the issues of legal personhood, the protection of autonomous agents and
their outputs through IP law, the responsibilities arising from data use and the various approaches
to allocating responsibility and liability.
The module aims:
• To acquaint students with both regulatory as well as non-regulatory mechanisms
(standards and best practices) with regards to development and deployment of AI
technologies across different sectors of their application.
• To provide understanding of potential legal, regulatory, and practical challenges in
relation to development and deployment of AI, including accuracy, accountability,
fairness and discrimination.
• To enable students to reflect on the benefits and limitations of the governance
frameworks when developing and deploying AI applications and expert systems.
Module lecture outline
Lecture 1 – Introduction to the module
The module will start with an overview of the wide scope of AI applications and significant
milestones in their development and deployment. It proceeds to outline core concepts and modes
of governance that can effectively address the issues, challenges, and risks arising from the design
and use of various AI applications. The global response has varied in jurisdictions across the world,
and we will explore the range of legal and regulatory responses to the ethical and legal risks posed
by the development and deployment of AI, focusing on EU, UK, US, and other countries where
relevant. What role do regulation, self-regulation, regulatory guidance, standards, and best practice
play in this field?
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Lecture 2 – AI Ethics
AI Ethics today encompasses a broad range of concerns, from privacy and data protection to bias
and fairness in AI systems. With AI increasingly integrated into various sectors, including healthcare,
finance, and law, ethical considerations become crucial in ensuring these technologies benefit
society without infringing on individual rights or exacerbating inequalities.
Lecture 3 – AI and Data
AI and data exist in a synergy with each other. Big data analytics leverages AI for better data analysis.
In turn, AI requires a massive scale of data to learn and improve decision-making processes. There
are generally two types of data – structured and unstructured – that are the foundation of any AI
system or application. They may involve both personal and non-personal data and have legal
implications for privacy, intellectual property rights, or confidentiality. This lecture will focus on the
relationship between AI and privacy. In regulation, licensing, contracts, and litigation, the allocation
of risk and responsibilities along the AI supply chain is currently hotly debated.
Lecture 4 – Generative AI and IP
This lecture will explore the concept of creativity and the capacity to invent and the scope for
protecting AI-generated works and inventions.
Specific IPR-related considerations with regards to AI include:
• Generative AI
• Text and data mining
• Applicability of copyright exceptions such as parody, pastiche, and caricature
• Deepfakes
• Using AI for the purposes of IP enforcement
Lecture 5 – AI and Liability
The society is at a crossroads in deciding how and whether or not to employ various AI applications.
In order to support further investment and deployment of AI applications, it is essential to establish
a legal regime for dealing with consumer liability claims for damage caused by AI products and
services. Some of the key issues are:
• Reducing legal uncertainty surrounding liability claims and AI-related damages
• Ensuring that victims can seek effective redress for AI-related damages
• Revising existing liability rules
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Reading List
To be provided.
Learning Outcomes
Sophisticated manifestations of artificial intelligence have left the research lab and arrived in our
homes, businesses and public spaces. This module examines the wide spectrum of ethical, public
policy and legal issues that needs to be addressed by designers, manufacturers and legislators alike.
Learning Outcomes
• Demonstrate a broad understanding of the legal issues created by autonomous technologies,
and an awareness of the range of legal issues that are affected
• Have extensive knowledge of existing legal responses, both through legislation and relevant
case law
• Comprehend and analyse the interaction between economic, psychological, political, societal
and ethical issues that regulators face when dealing with autonomous technologies and
identify legislative initiatives and reform proposals both nationally and internationally.