Call My Agents!
[Straits Times] AI agents are becoming smarter, more useful — and cuter. The law can deal with many of their mistakes. Harder questions arise when delegation becomes loss of control. Simon Chesterman Three apparently contradictory stories about artificial intelligence have been unfolding at the same time. The first is alarming. In July, OpenAI […] more…
Law and Practice of the United Nations (3rd edition)
A new edition of Law and Practice of the United Nations for a new and troubling age. When I first spoke with the late, great Thomas M. Franck about turning his famous course on the constitutional law of the UN into a textbook, he said he was wary because he regarded such books as boomerangs: […] more…
Misinformation, Disinformation, and the Crisis of Trust in Public Institutions
[United Nations University] Misinformation and disinformation are not simply problems of false content or content moderation. They are multilevel governance failure. Data practices and platform architectures shape how manipulation spreads. Governments regulate, sometimes crudely. Researchers often lack the access needed to understand systemic risks. And the consequences are felt across climate action, public health, elections, […] more…
Data Is Not Oil, It Is Soil: The Foundations of Responsible AI
[China Daily] The race to develop more powerful artificial intelligence is truly global. So, increasingly, are the risks. An AI system developed in one country may run on infrastructure in another, draw on data stored in a third and affect people everywhere. No country can govern that chain on its own. Yet meaningful international coordination […] more…
We Can’t Wait for an AI Crisis Before Taking Action
[Straits Times] Technology is outpacing regulatory efforts. The UN meetings in Geneva this week are a chance to begin building a global agency for AI governance. Simon Chesterman and Dame Wendy Hall On July 2, OpenAI’s Sam Altman called for a “simple framework” for governing advanced artificial intelligence. His proposal is not nothing. […] more…
AI Companions Are Coming — Privacy Rules Are Not Ready
[Straits Times] AI companions need more than rules about data protection. They need boundaries. In Magnifica Humanitas, his first encyclical, Pope Leo XIV frames artificial intelligence as more than a technological challenge: AI calls into question the value and worth of the human person. The parallel with Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 response to […] more…
Building AI the World Can Actually Trust
At the recent ATxSummit here in Singapore, I had the pleasure of interviewing Professor Yoshua Bengio — Turing Award-winning scientist and the first living scholar to pass one million Google Scholar citations. (I gather this tally is beaten only by Michel Foucault, but what has he written lately?) As AI systems become more capable, autonomous, […] more…
Artificial Intelligence as a Stress Test for the Social Contract of Higher Education
The relationship between universities and the societies that fund them has historically rested on an implicit social contract: public investment and institutional autonomy in exchange for economic growth, social mobility, and civic contribution. This article develops a conceptual framework for analysing how that settlement is being renegotiated under conditions of technological disruption and shifting governance […] more…
Research Integrity and Academic Authority in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: From Discovery to Curation?
Artificial intelligence is reshaping the organization and practice of research in ways that extend far beyond gains in productivity. AI systems now accelerate discovery, reorganize scholarly labour, and mediate access to expanding scientific literatures. At the same time, generative models capable of producing text, images, and data at scale introduce new epistemic and institutional vulnerabilities. […] more…
From Slaves to Synths? Superintelligence and the Evolution of Legal Personality
The question of whether artificial systems might one day qualify as legal persons — entities capable of holding rights and duties before the law — has moved from speculative fiction to a matter of practical jurisprudence. For much of the late twentieth century, digital technologies were understood as tools: accelerants of human agency rather than […] more…
TikTok’s Sale: There Is No ‘One Ring to Rule Them All’
[Straits Times, with Chen Tsuhan] America may soon own TikTok — but not what really matters: the algorithm that decides what we watch, share, and think. When the United States ordered TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to divest its American operations or face a ban, it was framed as a national security issue. The […] more…
Lawful but Awful: Evolving Legislative Responses to Address Online Misinformation, Disinformation, and Mal-Information in the Age of Generative AI
[AJCL] “Fake news” is an old problem. In recent years, however, increasing usage of social media as a source of information, the spread of unverified medical advice during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the rise of generative artificial intelligence have seen a rush of legislative proposals seeking to minimize or mitigate the impact of false or […] more…
Silicon Sovereigns: Artificial Intelligence, International Law, and the Tech-Industrial Complex
[AJIL] Artificial intelligence is reshaping science, society, and power. Yet many debates over its likely impact remain fixated on extremes: utopian visions of universal benefit and dystopian fears of existential doom, or an arms race between the U.S. and China, or the Global North and Global South. What’s missing is a serious conversation about distribution […] more…
Law and Technology in Singapore (2nd edition)
Neither law nor technology stand still, so producing a book on Law & Technology is a bit like throwing a boomerang — it keeps coming back at you! Luckily, Law & Technology in Singapore was very much a joint project with my co-editors, Justice Andrew Phang & DAG Yihan Goh, as well as our fantastic […] more…
Will AI make EQ more important than IQ?
[Straits Times, with Loy Hui Chieh] Artificial intelligence will soon surpass knowledge workers in most tasks for which they are trained. Should universities switch from educating the mind to educating the heart? November 30 marks the second anniversary of the release of ChatGPT — though few professors will be celebrating. As the large language model […] more…
我们,机器人? We, the Robots — in Chinese!
We, the Robots? Regulating Artificial Intelligence and the Limits of the Law has been translated into Chinese, with a new preface! (点击此处立即购买！) More than three decades after I lived in Beijing for a year, studying at 北京第二外国语学院 (now the Beijing International Studies University), it’s a thrill to have my first book published in Chinese. Alas […] more…
Saving AI from Humanity
[Straits Times] Around the world, the risks associated with artificial intelligence are a hot topic. But what if the real danger lies in the humans developing, deploying, and using it? For much of its history, Singapore was a port for goods. In the late twentieth century, with the rise of the service economy, it […] more…
Truth Decay
[Straits Times] Though Donald Trump would like credit for coining the term, “fake news” was a headline in the New York Times more than a century ago. The history of propaganda is far older. An early example was Egypt’s Rameses the Great, who decorated temples with monuments to his tremendous victory in the 13th century […] more…
The Evolution of AI Governance
[IEEE Computer] Many companies and a growing number of governments now have guides, frameworks, or principles claiming to govern their use of AI. Seven years ago, virtually none did. This article presents original research on documents produced by 193 countries and the top 100 companies by market capitalization. A key shift occurred in 2016 when […] more…
Is ChatGPT just a Copycat?
[Straits Times] As ChatGPT turns one year old, there are growing questions about the way in which it draws upon creative works to compete with the authors of those very same works. Artificial intelligence (AI) has always depended on access to data. Today’s large language models (LLMs) are trained on, essentially, the entire Internet. Much […] more…
The Tragedy of AI Governance
[Just Security] This should be the golden age of AI governance. But words and actions are running in opposite directions. Beginning around 2016, a proliferation of guides, frameworks, and principles sought to articulate ground rules for AI. The trend began in western technology companies, but quickly spread across sectors and around the world. States soon got in on the […] more…
Good Models Borrow, Great Models Steal: Intellectual Property Rights and Generative AI
[Policy & Society Journal] Two critical policy questions will determine the impact of generative AI on the knowledge economy and the creative sector. The first concerns how we think about the training of such models — in particular, whether the creators or owners of the data that are “scraped” (lawfully or unlawfully, with or without […] more…
All Rise for the Honourable Robot Judge? Using Artificial Intelligence to Regulate AI
[Technology & Regulation] There is a rich literature on the challenges that AI poses to the legal order. But to what extent might such systems also offer part of the solution? China, which has among the least developed rules to regulate conduct by AI systems, is at the forefront of using that same technology in […] more…
I Prompt, Therefore I Am
[The IT Society] When people think of risks associated with artificial intelligence (AI), Hollywood looms large. Movies have long conjured the worst case scenarios: from Hal refusing to open the pod bay doors in 2001, to a murderous Arnold Schwarzenegger travelling back through time. If there is a robot apocalypse, however, it is unlikely to […] more…
Artifice: A Novel
Humanity’s greatest invention could be our last. Archie’s involvement in the artificial intelligence project known as Janus is limited to routine diagnostics. But when she discovers that she and everyone else have been deceived by their creation, it launches her on a journey that will change her life – and humanity’s future. Set in a […] more…
From Ethics to Law: Why, When, and How to Regulate AI
[Handbook of the Ethics of AI] The past decade has seen a proliferation of guides, frameworks, and principles put forward by states, industry, inter- and non-governmental organizations to address matters of AI ethics. These diverse efforts have led to a broad consensus on what norms might govern AI. Far less energy has gone into determining […] more…
Meritocracy 2.0
[Straits Times] Traditional measures of merit have served their purpose. Enabling everyone to flourish — even as artificial intelligence threatens to outshine us all — requires that we diversify those yardsticks, while also being clear that they should not define a person’s worth or limit their potential. It’s admissions season for universities and, as […] more…
AI-generated content is taking over the world. But who owns it?
[Straits Times] When artificial intelligence produces artwork and text indistinguishable from human creations, are the economic foundations of creativity under threat? Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months, you’ve probably seen works of art or text produced by artificial intelligence (AI). Tools such as Stable Diffusion can generate images […] more…
We Need to Move Beyond the Synchronous Versus Asynchronous Debate
[THE] Academics are agonising over the wrong elements of online education. They should be thinking about active versus passive learning. Over the course of the pandemic, educators – like everyone else – were forced to rethink the way in which we do our job. And, like most people, we responded by seeing how we […] more…
Reasonable Robots
[ICLQ] It is a curious feature of the history of artificial intelligence (AI) that its successes have often been measured in games. Early programs were taught bounded problems like tic-tac-toe and draughts. These were novelties, but the defeat of chess world champion Gary Kasparov by IBM’s Deep Blue in 1997 was presented as a threat […] more…
Law and Technology in Singapore
The increasing importance of technology in the practice and content of law can hardly be overstated. The practice of law is now fused with technology; law firms are digitising at a rate that can only increase. At the same time, the content of law is having to adapt: courts are being asked whether an app […] more…
We, the Robots? Regulating Artificial Intelligence and the Limits of the Law
Should we regulate artificial intelligence? Can we? From self-driving cars and high-speed trading to algorithmic decision-making, the way we live, work, and play is increasingly dependent on AI systems that operate with diminishing human intervention. These fast, autonomous, and opaque machines offer great benefits — and pose significant risks. This book examines how our laws […] more…
The Case for an International Artificial Intelligence Agency
[Engineering & Technology Magazine] Self-regulation and national regulation of AI won’t be enough. Even the EU can’t save us. The case for an International Artificial Intelligence Agency. Earlier this year, the European Union proposed a draft regulation to protect the fundamental rights of its citizens from certain applications of artificial intelligence (AI). In June, […] more…
The Robot Judge Will See You Now
[Straits Times] Could artificial intelligence regulate itself? As artificial intelligence (AI) transforms modern life, regulators around the world are grappling with how to reap its benefits while minimizing its risks. Earlier this year, the European Union proposed a draft regulation on certain aspects of AI. Last month, China adopted its new state-centric Data Security Law, […] more…
Weapons of Mass Disruption: Artificial Intelligence and International Law
[Cambridge International Law Journal] The answers each political community finds to the law reform questions posed artificial intelligence (AI) may differ, but a near-term threat is that AI systems capable of causing harm will not be confined to one jurisdiction — indeed, it may be impossible to link them to a specific jurisdiction at all. […] more…
The Robot Century
[Straits Times] Robots have been part of human culture for a hundred years. How can we ensure that they support — rather than supplant — humans over the next hundred? The word ‘robot’ entered the modern lexicon a hundred years ago today with the première at Prague’s National Theatre of Karel Čapek’s play R.U.R. […] more…
Your Data or Your Life
[Straits Times] Data, in particular personal data, is often described as the ‘new oil’ powering the information economy. It’s an attractive metaphor — evoking transformations underway in a fourth industrial revolution, heralding a world of artificial intelligence and limitless possibilities. Unfortunately, that metaphor is wrong in almost every way. Oil is finite, companies pay millions […] more…
Artificial Intelligence and the Limits of Legal Personality
[ICLQ] As artificial intelligence (AI) systems become more sophisticated and play a larger role in society, arguments that they should have some form of legal personality gain credence. It has been suggested that this will fill an accountability gap created by the speed, autonomy, and opacity of AI. In addition, a growing body of literature […] more…
Through a Glass, Darkly: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Opacity
[American Journal of Comparative Law] As computer programs become more complex, the ability of non-specialists to understand how a given output has been reached diminishes. Opaqueness may also be built into programs to protect proprietary interests. Both types of system are capable of being explained, either through recourse to experts or an order to produce […] more…
“Move Fast and Break Things”: Law, Technology, and the Problem of Speed
[Singapore Academy of Law Journal] Since computers entered into the mainstream in the 1960s, the efficiency with which data could be processed has raised regulatory questions. This is well understood with respect to privacy. Data that was notionally public — divorce proceedings, say — had long been protected through the ‘practical obscurity’ of paper records. […] more…
Facing Up to Facial Surveillance
[Straits Times] The benefits of facial recognition technology are that it offers a quick, non-invasive means of identifying people. Those are also its dangers. Last month it was reported that facial recognition will be used to take attendance in Singapore’s Parliament and check into certain hotels. The latest phones already unlock with Face ID and many […] more…
Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Autonomy
[Notre Dame Journal on Emerging Technologies] Artificial intelligence (AI) systems are routinely said to operate autonomously, exposing gaps in regulatory regimes that assume the centrality of human actors. Yet surprisingly little attention is given to precisely what is meant by “autonomy” and its relationship to those gaps. Driverless vehicles and autonomous weapon systems are the […] more…
Should Robots Be Given Rights as Well?
[Straits Times] As computers surpass human intelligence and take on greater responsibilities, should they be given rights also? Earlier this month, the Bank of England announced that Alan Turing would be featured on the new fifty pound note. The last to switch from paper to polymer, it is due to enter circulation in late […] more…
Should We Regulate A.I.? Can We?
[Straits Times] Artificial intelligence is viewed by many as the defining technology of the 21st century. But how can we ensure that its benefits outweigh the potential risks? This week marked a grim anniversary of sorts for artificial intelligence (AI). On a Sunday night this time last year, Elaine Herzberg stepped off an ornamental […] more…
Singapore’s Biggest Ever Data Breach May Give Privacy New Life
[Straits Times] Reports of the death of privacy are greatly exaggerated. This might seem an odd opening line, with Singapore still reeling from its worst ever data breach, in which the personal details of 1.5 million people were stolen from SingHealth. But as the country realigns its economy and its public institutions to take advantage […] more…
Data Protection Law in Singapore (2nd edition)
[Academy Publishing] The adoption of the Personal Data Protection Act transformed the legal regime for data protection in Singapore. This book explains the history and evolution of data protection in Singapore, highlights issues that are being worked out in practice, and derives lessons that Singapore can learn from other jurisdictions – and that other jurisdictions […] more…
Privacy and Our Digital Selves
[Straits Times] By October, the lamp posts on Singapore’s Orchard Road and in selected housing estates will be doing more than just illuminating the street. With cameras and other sensors they will capture real-time information on traffic flow, the environment, pedestrian movement — and, potentially, security threats. In his National Day Rally last month, Prime […] more…
Do Driverless Cars Dream of Electric Sheep?
[Straits Times] Autonomous vehicles offer the prospect of safer and cheaper transportation of people and goods. But as Singapore sees the first driverless taxis take to the roads, technology has raced ahead of our laws — and our morals. Last week, the world’s first driverless taxi service began picking up passengers on Singapore’s roads. It […] more…
Digital Security: You Are the Weakest Link
[Straits Times] Singapore’s decision to cut Internet access from 100,000 public servants accepts the reality: the greatest vulnerability in any network is the people who use it. “The only truly secure system,” Professor Gene Spafford observed of computers in 1989, “is one that is powered off, cast in a block of concrete and sealed […] more…
Law 2.0
[Straits Times] In a world in which data and money no longer respect national borders, can law keep ahead of technological innovation? It can’t — and it shouldn’t. On 26 February 2015, the US Federal Communications Commission voted, 3-2, to reclassify broadband as a public utility. Regulators in the United States can now prevent Internet service […] more…
Protecting and Sharing Personal Data
[Straits Times] By the time Singapore’s Do-Not-Call (DNC) Registry came into effect earlier this month, more than 400,000 numbers had already been entered online, by SMS, and by phone. Many Singaporeans, it is clear, are not particularly interested in unsolicited offers of investment advice, “exclusive” property offers, and so on. But the reaction to the […] more…
Data Protection Law in Singapore: Privacy and Sovereignty in an Interconnected World
[Academy Publishing] The adoption of the Personal Data Protection Act has transformed the legal regime for data protection in Singapore. This book explains the history and evolution of data protection in Singapore, highlights issues that will need to be worked out in practice as the new law is implemented, and derives lessons that may be […] more…
US Intelligence, Inc.
[Project Syndicate] Among the stories and rumors prompted by Edward J. Snowden’s leaking of classified material – whistleblowing or treason, depending on where you stand – the revelations that may actually lead to a policy change concern the extent to which private companies now carry out intelligence collection and analysis in the United States. Around a […] more…
A Chat Room of One’s Own
[Straits Times] The Internet has had a greater impact on access to information than any development in human history, with the possible exception of the invention of writing. We are more connected and better informed than ever before. So why does it often feel like what takes place on the Internet is so dumb? Two […] more…
After Privacy: The Rise of Facebook, The Fall of WikiLeaks, and Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Act 2012
[Singapore Journal of Legal Studies] This article discusses the changing ways in which information is produced, stored, and shared—exemplified by the rise of social-networking sites like Facebook and controversies over the activities of WikiLeaks—and the implications for privacy and data protection. Legal protections of privacy have always been reactive, but the coherence of any legal […] more…
How Best to Protect Kids Online
[Straits Times] How many “friends” does your child have online? Who reads her blog or sees the pictures she uploads? And what survey forms is she filling in to win a chance at a prize? Some parents will know some of the answers to some of these questions. But it is highly unlikely that any […] more…
Who Killed Privacy?
[Straits Times] It is more than a decade since the former CEO of Sun Microsystems infamously declared that privacy was dead, urging the reporters who had asked him about the subject to “get over it”. That was before the launch of Facebook, Google’s Street View, the iPhone, and a proliferation of other tools that many […] more…
One Nation Under Surveillance
[OUP] What limits, if any, should be placed on a government’s efforts to spy on its citizens in the name of national security? Spying on foreigners has long been regarded as an unseemly but necessary enterprise. Spying on one’s own citizens in a democracy, by contrast, has historically been subject to various forms of legal […] more…
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