Larry A. DiMatteo, Cristina Poncibò and Michel Cannarsa (eds) Cambridge Handbook of Artificial Intelligence: Global Perspectives on Law and Ethics
Tania Sourdin · Prometheus · 2023
It is a gargantuan task to compile a handbook on artificial intelligence (AI) that focuses on global perspectives of law and ethics.This is not only because new developments in AI are constantly reshaping understandings about what might be possible, but also because the approach to law and AI differs so significantly across jurisdictions.These jurisdictional differences have resulted in a wealth of ever-expanding literature and regulatory material that requires thoughtful analysis.Analysing this material, contemplating the 'known unknowns' and the 'unknown unknowns', becomes even more difficult when academics have differing approaches to AI evaluation.On the one hand, many, often with a European frame of reference, are very focused (if not obsessed) with regulatory measures, while others, often with a common law background, consider AI from the perspective of longstanding legal principles.In addition, attempting to group thematically and link a range of diverse contributions is a Sisyphean task, particularly as concepts explored by the various contributors to the Cambridge Handbook not only overlap, but at times may be in opposition to one another.Despite these substantive issues, the Cambridge Handbook provides much food for thought, in part because of its focus on broad principles, presented symbiotically with specific examples.The editors are to be congratulated on this excellent work.This equilibrium of comprehensive and focused analysis will enable lawyers (and others) to craft thoughtful approaches to AI developments that are already present, and those which may emerge in the future.In the various contributions to this extraordinary book, it is possible to discern the difficulty that many of the authors face when attempting to draw upon conventional legal theory and processes to accommodate the new AI world.In most chapters, there are admissions that, despite the emergence of a range of regulatory instruments and the proposed Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) in the EU, boundaries will need to be redrawn.Some issues will require the creation of new, AI-related norms that may be difficult to develop, manage and maintain.Overall, though, most authors consider that the approaches can be grafted onto existing approaches.Without considering whether new theoretical constructs will be required, this approach will be problematic as new technologies continue to resist codification and regulation. Definitions of AI, autonomy and agencyThere are several omissions in the book.This is partly because within the authors' focus on AI, there is a lack of clarity relating to the scope of the handbook and various technological developments are not explored.This lack of clarity is perhaps a result of the current uncertainty surrounding the definition of AI, the subject of discussion in the second chapter of the book.While the authors refer to the Turing test to determine what AI might include -that is, does the machine mimic human intelligence?-flaws in this approach arise in the context of narrow AI, and what is referred to as a 'broader AI field' definition: denoting the set of digital artifacts (hardware and software, possibly combined) that contains at least one learning or learned component, that is a component that can change its behaviour based on presented data and the patterns induced from that data.(p.25)