Tag: ai Page 1 of 4

Law and computation: A conversation

On 2nd December 2024

Reading time: 10 minutes

Written by: Meng Weng Wong and Marc Lauritsen

This conversation between a computer scientist and a lawyer/technologist – about evolving collaborations across their several disciplines – was triggered by interactions at the SubTech’conference in Singapore in July 2022. Together with Alexis Chun they recently published Using Domain-Specific Languages in Legal Applications in The Journal of Robotics, Artificial Intelligence & Law.

Meng Weng Wong, principal investigator at Singapore Management University’s Centre for Computational Law, is a computer scientist (CS Penn ’97) and co-founder of Legalese, a deep-tech startup that applies computer science to law. Meng previously designed Internet email infrastructure (RFC4408) and co-founded two high-tech startups and a startup accelerator, JFDI.Asia. He’s been appointed to research fellowships at Harvard’s Berkman–Klein Center for Internet & Society, Stanford University’s CodeX for Legal Informatics, and Ca’Foscari University.

Marc Lauritsen, president of Capstone Practice Systems, is a Massachusetts lawyer and educator with an extensive background in practice, teaching, management, and research. He helps people work more effectively through knowledge systems. He has taught at five law schools, done pathbreaking work on document drafting and decision support systems, and run several software companies. Marc is a fellow of the College of Law Practice Management, past co-chair of the American Bar Association’s eLawyering Task Force, and the author of The Lawyer’s Guide to Working Smarter with Knowledge Tools.

Andrea Christine Suki: Law Reform Paper on Criminal Liability and Generative Artificial Intelligence

By Josh Lee

On 20th November 2024

In Artificial Intelligence, Policy, Regulations

Reading time: 19 minutes

Written by Andrea Christine Suki | Edited by Josh Lee Kok Thong

LawTech.Asia is proud to collaborate with the Singapore Management University Yong Pung How School of Law’s LAW4060 AI Law, Policy and Ethics class. This collaborative special series is a collection featuring selected essays from students of the class. For the class’ final assessment, students were asked to choose from a range of practice-focused topics, such as writing a law reform paper on an AI-related topic, analysing jurisdictional approaches to AI regulation, or discussing whether such a thing as “AI law” existed. The collaboration is aimed at encouraging law students to analyse issues using the analytical frames taught in class, and apply them in practical scenarios combining law and policy.

This piece, written by Andrea Christine Suki, examines whether criminal law should evolve or adapt to mitigate a range of harms posed by generative AI, and seeks to provide recommendations where the existing criminal framework is found to be possibly inadequate.

Unlocking Innovation: Hong Kong’s Legal Technology Landscape

By Josh Lee

On 3rd September 2024

In Access to Justice, Artificial Intelligence, Automation, Data Privacy, Dispute Resolution, Interviews, Law Firms, Lawyers, Legal Hackers, Legal Innovation, Legal Technology in Hong Kong

Reading time: 22 minutes

Written by Yiap Siew Fong | Edited by Josh Lee Kok Thong

May 2024 was a particularly eventful month for legal technology in Hong Kong. It marked the return of the FT Innovative Lawyers Asia-Pacific Awards (“FT Awards”) to Hong Kong, showcasing the latest achievements in legal innovation throughout the region. The Hong Kong chapter of Asia-Pacific Legal Innovation and Technology Association (“ALITA”) also hosted a digital innovation roundtable in collaboration with the Law, Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship Lab at the University of Hong Kong’s Faculty of Law (“LITE Lab@HKU”). Earlier that month, a panel session at Hong Kong Mediation Week titled “Bots v Humans? The Future of Mediation” examined the implications and potential of AI in relation to the field of dispute resolution and mediation. These recent events provide an opportune context to examine the current state of the legal technology landscape in Hong Kong.

Artisans and Artifice: Doing Justice Together

By Josh Lee

On 10th August 2024

In Access to Justice, Artificial Intelligence, Lawyers, Legal Hackers, Legal Innovation

Reading time: 4 minutes

Written by: Marc Lauritsen

Will AI make law better?

Yes.

For whom?

For many on both sides of the legal profession’s moat.

I’ll be brief.

(If you’re looking for verbosity, see my other writings. Links to some decorate this one.)

The Landscape of AI Regulation in the Asia-Pacific

By Josh Lee

On 13th May 2024

In Artificial Intelligence, Policy, Regulations

Reading time: 32 minutes

Written by Alistair Simmons and Matthew Rostick | Edited by Josh Lee Kok Thong

Introduction

In recent months, many jurisdictions in the Asia-Pacific (“APAC”) have adopted or are considering various forms of AI governance mechanisms. At least 16 jurisdictions in APAC have begun some form of AI governance, and this number will likely continue to increase. This paper scans the different AI governance mechanisms across a number of APAC jurisdictions and offers some observations at the end.

This paper segments AI governance mechanisms into four categories: Direct AI regulations are enforceable rules that regulate the development, deployment or use of AI directly as a technology, and consequently have regulatory impact across multiple sectors. Voluntary frameworks cover voluntary and non-binding guidance issued by governmental entities that directly address the development, deployment or use of AI as a technology. Indirect regulations (data & IP) are also enforceable legal rules but do not regulate the development, deployment or use of AI directly as a technology. They are rules of more general applicability that nevertheless have an impact on the development, deployment or use of AI. As the scope of this category is potentially broad, we have focused on data protection/privacy and intellectual property laws in this paper. Sector-specific measures refers to binding and non-binding rules and guidelines issued by sector regulators that are relevant to the development, deployment or use of AI in an industry. To avoid getting bogged down in the specifics of whether the rules and guidelines are technically binding or not, we have presented them together. Unlike the mechanisms addressed in the Sectoral Governance Mechanisms segment, the non-binding frameworks in this segment typically address the use of AI across multiple sectors.

For avoidance of doubt, this paper addresses legal governance mechanisms only. There may be other initiatives afoot to drive alignment and good practices from a technical perspective. We do not seek to address technical measures in this paper.