‘The Council of Europe has achieved a world first with the opening for signatures of the Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy, and the Rule of Law. The AI Convention is open to all states and has already attracted the signatures of the United States, Israel, and also the European Union. The Lord Chancellor,…

‘A Bill to regulate the use of automated and algorithmic tools in decision-making processes in the public sector; to require public authorities to complete an impact assessment of automated and algorithmic decision-making systems; to ensure the adoption of transparency standards for such systems; and for connected purposes.’ Link: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3760

‘Debates about the development of artificial superintelligence and its potential threats to humanity tend to assume that such a system would be historically unprecedented, and that its behavior must be predicted from first principles. I argue that this is not true: we can analyze multiagent intelligent systems (the best candidates for practical superintelligence) by comparing…

‘While much has been made of artificial intelligence’s promise to improve educational opportunities and outcomes, a group of Stanford students is highlighting the importance of a different perspective on AI in education: It isn’t just about using AI to bridge gaps in educating our students. It is also about how we “educate” AI.’ Link: https://law.stanford.edu/stanford-lawyer/articles/educating-ai/

‘NYU Law faculty and alumni assess the impact of artificial intelligence on law and the world.’ Link: https://www.law.nyu.edu/news/magazine-2024-artificial-intelligence-ai

‘Unless you’ve been completely off-grid for the past 12 months or so, you’ve likely encountered the deluge of news, articles, explainers, and enthusiastic LinkedIn posts about the wonders and/or terrors of Generative AI.’ Link: https://www.counselmagazine.co.uk/articles/using-ai-safely

‘One in three small and medium-sized companies believe artificial intelligence could positively transform workplaces, according to a global study.’ Link: https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/smes-ai-positive/

‘Artificial intelligence can have practical applications for assessment in higher education, despite the focus on the threats it poses. Here are considerations when using AI to support teaching and generate feedback.’ Link: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/ai-tutor-and-critic-using-tech-personalise-education

‘This past spring, Turnitin, a company that makes anti-cheating tools to detect the use of A.I. in student papers, released its findings based on more than two hundred million samples reviewed by its software. Three per cent of papers had been more or less entirely written by A.I. and roughly ten per cent exhibited some traces of…

‘The UK government has signed the first international treaty on artificial intelligence in a move that aims to prevent misuses of the technology, such as spreading misinformation or using biased data to make decisions.’ Link: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/sep/05/uk-signs-first-international-treaty-to-implement-ai-safeguards

‘The University of Oxford has announced the establishment of the Human-Centered AI Lab (HAI Lab), a pioneering research initiative supported by the Cosmos Institute. This ground-breaking lab will create a space for technologists and philosophers to collaborate on translating philosophical concepts into open-source software and AI systems, fostering a vibrant community for big-picture thinking about…

‘How useful is artificial intelligence for syllabus design? A law lecturer compared the free and subscription versions of three generative AI platforms, with surprising results.’ Link: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/it-worth-paying-genai

‘Despite an unprecedented abundance of news content, both news avoidance and dissatisfaction are rising. Blending journalism, philosophy and law scholarship, this paper argues that ‘news choice overload’ causes paralysis and poor outcomes as it transfers power to algorithms, thereby harming autonomy and, in turn, democracy. An analysis of Australian and European regulatory responses shows the…

‘Industry-seasoned individuals and scholars have extensively deliberated on the significance of artificial intelligence (AI) in the information fraternity. While consensus underscores the symbiotic relationship between AI and human efforts, this concept’s dynamic and evolving nature evokes apprehension among stakeholders. This literature study discusses the nuanced exploration of challenges and opportunities of AI in academic libraries,…

‘Hundreds of AI-driven tools are being built to save teachers time on grading, lesson planning, and other tasks. But not all educators are on board.’ Link: https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/03/1103481/heres-how-ed-tech-companies-are-pitching-ai-to-teachers/

‘In September 2024, federal state elections will be held in Thuringia, Saxony, and Brandenburg. AlgorithmWatch has tested whether AI chatbots answer questions about these elections correctly and unbiased. The result: They are not reliable.’ Link: https://algorithmwatch.org/en/chatbots-are-still-spreading-falsehoods/

‘The United Kingdom is to join a new European treaty intended “to ensure that activities within the lifecycle of artificial intelligence systems are fully consistent with human rights, democracy and the rule of law”.’ Link: https://rozenberg.substack.com/p/uk-to-sign-ai-treaty

‘The coming two years will be critical for the future of Artificial Intelligence regulation in Europe. While the adoption of the European Union’s AI Act in 2024 was a significant achievement in itself, the implementation and enforcement phase that now follows will decide whether it can have a practical impact on how AI is developed…

‘Generative AI models aren’t actually humanlike. They have no intelligence or personality — they’re simply statistical systems predicting the likeliest next words in a sentence. But like interns at a tyrannical workplace, they do follow instructions without complaint — including initial “system prompts” that prime the models with their basic qualities and what they should and shouldn’t do.’…

‘Government departments and public bodies in the UK are increasingly incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) technology to automate their processes and support decision-making. In doing so, they need to ensure they act compatibly with principles of public law; if they fail to, judicial review proceedings could be raised in the courts to scrutinise how they are…

‘The EU’s new Artificial Intelligence (AI) act identifies unfair biases in AI systems as a key risk. Yet as Sergio Scandizzo argues, we should be equally concerned about our faith in the neutrality of technology.’ Link: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2024/09/04/in-praise-of-ai-bias/

‘The Council of Europe Framework Convention on artificial intelligence and human rights, democracy, and the rule of law (CETS No. 225) was opened for signature during a conference of Council of Europe Ministers of Justice in Vilnius. It is the first-ever international legally binding treaty aimed at ensuring that the use of AI systems is fully consistent with human rights, democracy and the rule…