Tom Whittaker and Gabi Commatteo curate the recommendations of AI committee members for where to get to grips with, and keep on top of, developments in AI and the law.
You may feel similarly to us – AI is everything, everywhere, all at once. A never-ending amount to listen to, read, and watch. And all evolving at pace.
So for those starting out in AI law and those who have been practicing for years, we thought it would be useful to collate the favourite resources of the SCL AI committee to collate its favourite resources that help us learn and keep on top of developments about AI.
A quick note though. In our experience, there’s no perfect way to keep up to date. A great deal is trial and error to find what works for you in the way you like to engage with content and based on what you need the information for. Happy exploring!
Newsletters & websites
There are different types of newsletters from different types of organisations depending on what you want. Fortune’s Eye on AI newsletter and TechUK cover market updates globally and in the UK. Import AI’s website and newsletter summarise technology developments. Ada Lovelace focuses on policy and research developments, Transformer by Shakeel Hashim on Substack on Policy. Risto Uuk’s EU AI Act newsletter does what it says on the tin.
Newsletters from academia are useful, too. Two examples are Berkman Klein Centre for Internet & Society at Harvard University, looks at scientific and policy research and the Governance of AI newsletter from the University of Oxford Programme on the Governance of Emerging Technologies which looks at policy and governance. For a different perspective on the future, by using history, check out Learning From Examples by Harry Law on Substack.
Thinking about the business aspect, the Economist is helpful on the economics of AI, with insight into the political and resource issues which underlie AI policy. For tech sector insight Tech Crunch and Ars Technica often pick apart the legal issues with more clarity than some other tech news sites.
Books
There are a few go-to tomes: Artificial Intelligence by Russell & Norvig which is a very accessible take on the technical side of AI; Robot Rules by Jacob Turner, a useful roadmap for addressing the unique challenges posed by AI; and How to Think about AI, A guide for the Perplexed by Richard Susskind provides a clear, non-technical book with frameworks for understanding AI’s risks, opportunities, and transformative impact.
Otherwise, as with other resources, there is a wide range with different angles.
There are user-friendly introductions to the technical side, such as How AI Thinks by Nigel Toon. Books about how humans will interact with AI, such as Co-intelligence: living and working with AI by Ethan Mollick; The Coming Wave by Mustafa Suleyman and Hello World by Hannah Fry.
Some focus more on business, such as Mastering AI by Jeremy Kahn, whilst others look at other societal impacts and potentially negative consequences, such as Supremacy by Parmy Olson, Empire of AI by Karen Hao and Daniel Susskind’s A World Without Work.
For those interested in what AI may be capable of doing in the future, look for those by well-respected authors who are well placed to know. Examples include Scary Smart by Mo Gawdat,The singularity is nearer by Ray Kurzwei, two from Nick Bostrom Superintelligence and Deep Utopia and James Boyle’s latest book: The Line: AI and the Future of Personhood which looks at how AI might challenge our understanding of what it means to be human. Also, Reid Hoffman and Greg Beato’s: Super Agency: What could possibly go right in the Future.
Then there are the legal texts: The Law of Artificial Intelligence edited by Matt Hervey and Matthew Lavy KC; Artificial Intelligence – Law and Regulation edited by Charles Kerrigan; and Cambridge Handbook of GenerativeAI and the Law, edited by Professor Mimi Zou, Cristina Poncibò, Martin Ebers, and Ryan Calo. And a growing number of specialist texts, such as Artificial Intelligence and Public Law by Brendan McGurk and Professor Joe Tomlinson.
It’s also worth looking at the academics’ (or their institution’s) blogs for more regular and updated content. A specialist but thought provoking one is How to Crack a Nut by Professor Albert Sancez-Graells about the use of emerging technologies to boost the governance of public procurement. For cutting edge research on governance, look for work from specialist groups, such as the Centre for the Governance of AI.
Resources
There are a growing number, often from established academic and policy institutions that also set out their methodologies. AI Standards Hub is good for training, events, and a repository of standards. The various ISO standards relevant to AI have been grouped together here: ISO – Artificial intelligence. You can preview the contents page and a sample of each for free which is useful when thinking about governance approaches. The MIT AI Risk Repository covers a project to map and record risks specific to AI. The OECD Artificial Intelligence Policy Observatory provides global thought leadership, research, and guidance which often has international impact. And there are repositories of AI incidents, with trackers such as the MIT AI Incident Tracker, OECD AI Incidents Monitor, an evidence base for trustworthy AI, and AI Hallucination Cases Tracker.
For understanding the basic structures of the EU AI Act the following layout is useful: AI Act as a neatly arranged website – Legal Text. It sets out recitals and annexes separately and is linked to a similar layout of the GDPR for cross reference.
Online courses
These often provide a convenient, flexible and accessibly introduction to a topic. Harvard’s CS50 computer science course is good for the technical aspects of computer science more generally. Look out for YouTube videos on specific topics, such as AI or how to explain emerging technologies to children. Oxford University has two AI certification programmes of note: Oxford LawTech Education Programme (OLTEP), which is tailored to lawyers, and Oxford University Artificial Intelligence Programme, for a broader introduction to the technology, context and impact of AI. And there are many courses on platforms such as Coursera covering AI from a business or ethical perspective, or those from AI system providers such as Google, Microsoft, and AWS on responsible and practical AI. One of note is AI Safety by BlueDot Impact for those new to the area.
Podcasts
There are some podcasts which focus on AI. The Podcast by Google DeepMind, The Cognitive Revolution, and The Times Tech Podcast, to name only a few. In addition, because everyone is talking about AI, try searching for AI or algorithms on your favourite streaming platform may unearth podcasts you already listen to which have covered AI in some form – Cautionary Tales by Tim Harford has a few looking at the interaction of humans and AI. Also A16Z from Andreessen Horowitz for an engaging perspective on the latest tech. For a legal take, check out 39 Essex Chambers AI and the Law podcast and 4 Pump Court’s TechLaw Chat.
Of course, this is only a small subsection of the brilliant resources available and the summaries above are just that – summaries. We have deliberately not included the many useful resources from law firms which are also worth searching for. Further, you may like to check out resources relevant to AI more generally (such as DeepMind’s AI podcast), AI in specific domains (such as the Institute for the Future of Work’s newsletter), or emerging technologies (such as the New York Times Hard Fork podcast). These may all be useful to deepen your understanding of AI and spark ideas for how AI will impact the law.
Tom Whittaker is Director and Head of AI (Advisory) at Burges Salmon LLP. Tom specialises in both AI and eDiscovery. Tom advises and trains public and private sector organisations on AI regulation, legal risk and governance. He also advises on complex eDiscovery exercises.
Gabi Commatteo is an experienced AI policy professional and has worked for the UK government included DSIT and AISI on AI Regulation since 2021. She currently heads up the AI Regulation and Police team at the UK medicines and healthcare regulator (MHRA) and is a Visiting Professor at King’s College London School of Law on AI Law and regulation.
This article is also available in the special AI issue of Computers & Law, which is available to download here.
