We, the Robots?: Regulating Artificial Intelligence and the Limits of the Law

by Simon Chesterman

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 are dealing with AI, as well as what additional rules and institutions are needed – including the role that AI might play in regulating itself. Drawing on diverse technologies and examples from around the world, the book offers lessons on how to manage risk, draw red lines, and preserve the legitimacy of public authority. Though the prospect of AI pushing beyond the limits of the law may seem remote, these measures are useful now – and will be essential if it ever does.

Genres: Nonfiction, Artificial Intelligence

300 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 5, 2021

About the author

Simon Chesterman is David Marshall Professor and Vice Provost (Educational Innovation) at the National University of Singapore, where he is also the founding Dean of NUS College. Educated in Melbourne, Beijing, and Oxford, he has lived and worked in Singapore since 2006. Simon is the author or editor of more than twenty books, including the young adult Raising Arcadia trilogy and the standalone I, Huckleberry. The novel Artifice is his first work of general fiction.

Reviews

[Francesco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simon did it again, writing a new clear, easy-to-read, and informative book about the challenges that AI poses to regulation and the public tools we (his primary focus is States) have to control the activities of AI systems. Usefully, Simon groups the challenges that AI poses to regulation in three categories (speed, autonomy, and opacity) and then proceeds to investigate existing laws, as well as new rules and institutions, that can help in dealing with those challenges. I learned a lot from this book, which is tacking one of the defining challenges for our societies. Recent events in AI developments are only further stressing the urgency and importance of regulation in this area, before it is too late.

[Suvradip Maitra · Rating 5 out of 5]

A deeply knowledgable and incisive analysis of the impact of AI on society from a regulatory lens. While offering original solutions, Chesterman provides a timely reminder that our present systems and institutions are largely adequate to withstand what is to come.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comprehensive but likely dull or indecipherable for non-lawyers.