Postgraduate Module Descriptor

LAWM131: Artificial Intelligence and the Law

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

Whilst the precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover all or some of the following topics:

What is Artificial Intelligence and how does it work?
Development of Artificial Intelligence and its role in society
Researching and Understanding Technology Law
Use of Artificial Intelligence in Legal Practice
The Law of Autonomous Transportation (Cars, Ships and Drones)
Artificial Intelligence and the Law of Armed Conflict
Law of Artificial Intelligence in Finance
Smart Contracts and the Law
Human Rights Challenges and Artificial Intelligence
Intellectual Property and AI

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
30	270	0

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	30	10 x 3 hour combined lecture-seminars
Guided Independent Study	100	Preparation for lectures/seminars
Guided Independent Study	100	Post-lecture/seminar reading
Guided Independent Study	20	Preparation for formative assessments
Guided Independent Study	50	Preparation for summative assessments

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).

BAILII

Europa

Indicative Reading List

This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.

House of Lords, Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence, ‘AI in the UK: Willing, Able and Ready’ (HL Paper 100, April 2018)

Matthew Channon, Kyriaki Noussia and Lucy McCormick, ‘Law and Autonomous Vehicles’ (Informa 2019)

The Law Commission project on the electronic signature of documents: available at https://www.lawcom.gov.uk/project/electronic-execution-of-documents/

The Law Commission project on smart contracts: available at https://www.lawcom.gov.uk/project/smart-contracts/

MN Schmitt & JS Thurner, ‘"Out of the Loop": Autonomous Weapon Systems and the Law of Armed Conflict’ (2013) 4 Harvard National Security Journal 232.

ET Jensen & R Alcala (eds), The Impact of Emerging Technologies on the Law of Armed Conflict (OUP 2019).