AIAL1048 | Artificial Intelligence and the Law

Since I undertook this course in October last year, there has been a drastic increase in the conversations around Artificial Intelligence (AI) and justice, especially in India – we have moved beyond just a basic idea (of biases in AI). In public fora and discussions, the lack of student exposure to these topics in law schools has been identified. There are also many international conversations about the impact of AI on matters of public law, especially in aspects such as service delivery. This Course will attempt to look at this subject matter holistically: from explaining to a non-technological background student what an algorithm actually is, to provoking conversations about the implications of non-explainability of justice in a country like ours.

This is a standalone seminar course intended to cover recent developments in Artificial Intelligence and analyse them from a legal prism. The course will cover both theoretical aspects as well as look at the legaltech ecosystem in India,  in  order to develop the students’ interests in the area. Based on the feedback received last year and recent developments in the field, the course outline has been suitably modified since its last iteration, and would continue to evolve in the coming months.

The course will take a deeper dive into the technical basics of AI in order to give a basic understanding in the subject. Given the recency of this area of law, reliance will be placed on secondary reading materials and articles, as well as lectures on YouTube/guest speakers. Limited reliance will be placed on case law. Readings will be in the form of academic papers as well as relevant technical publications.

The course will take place in the form of lectures and open discussions on the materials presented. Short response papers to relevant materials will be required.