AI and Law

The course AI and Law aims to introduce students to the way in which the increasing use of artificially intelligent technologies (AI) affects the practice and administration of law in Sweden and beyond.

The increasing integration of AI presents both opportunities and challenges within the legal field. On one hand, AI offers the potential to streamline existing legal processes, improve efficiency, and introduce new ways of addressing legal challenges. This, of course, is a very appealing aspect of AI and constitutes an interest for many of the actors active in the legal field. On the other hand, increasing integration of AI presents social, ethical and legal challenges. Especially when it comes to decisions depending on individual assessment. These challenges need to be addressed and handled in an adequate way to make sure the legal system isn’t undermined by the incorporation of AI.

With respect to these aspects of integrating AI, the course will examine relevant regulations such as the EU:s AI-act and, as well, look into some domestic legislation. By the end of the course, you will have gained an understanding and knowledge of how these regulations handle the opportunities and challenges presented by integrating AI in law.

Course content

The course covers fundamental issues related to the relationship between AI and law, both within Swedish and international legal frameworks. A central aspect of the course is identifying the potential and actual challenges as well as opportunities that arise when AI interacts with the legal system. Furthermore, the course emphasizes how key issues, such as legal certainty and accountability, are affected when AI is used in legal decision-making. The course content primarily focuses on public law and European law.

Course design

The course is carried out completely online and is scheduled to require seven weeks of half-time studies. Divided into four modules, the course includes video lectures and self-grading tests. At the end of the course, the students shall hand in a written assignment.

The different parts of the course

Lectures

Teaching is provided through pre-recorded online lectures. The lectures will be available on the course website and accompanied by reading materials. Participation in the online lectures is voluntary but recommended to fully benefit from the course content.

Literature and legal text

In parallel with the lectures, you will read the associated legal text. For this course, there is no assigned literature, instead the reading instructions will be made up of academic journals, websites, book-chapters etc.

Tests

After each module, a self-grading test will be available based on the content of the module. In order to progress to the next module, a passing score is required on the test associated with the previous module.

Paper

At the end of the course, you will write a written assignment addresseing a research question related to the material covered during the course. The final grade is based on the result on the written assignment.