‘The UK government is threatening Elon Musk’s X with the nuclear option under the country’s online safety laws: a ban. The social media platform is under pressure from ministers after it allowed the Grok AI tool, which is integrated within the app, to generate indecent images of unsuspecting women and children.’ Link: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/13/can-x-be-banned-uk-law-ofcom-options-grok

‘Media companies expect web traffic to their sites from online searches to plummet over the next three years, as AI summaries and chatbots change the way consumers use the internet.’ Link: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jan/12/publishers-fear-ai-search-summaries-and-chatbots-mean-end-of-traffic-era

‘Large law firms are facing “increasing demands from clients” for artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots to allow them to “self-serve and circumvent the need to direct all queries through lawyers”, the Law Society has warned.’ Link: https://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/clients-demanding-ai-chatbots-to-circumvent-lawyers

‘Google and Character.AI, a startup, have settled lawsuits filed by families accusing artificial intelligence chatbots of harming minors, including contributing to a Florida teenager’s suicide, according to court filings on Wednesday.’ Link: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/08/google-character-ai-settlement-teen-suicide

‘Over the last year, chances are that at least once you’ve found yourself asking: “Could AI take my job?”’ Link: https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/ai-job-work-productivity-study-b2894660.html

‘In this Health Affairs study, Stanford researchers examine the promises of efficiency and risks of supercharged flaws in the race to use artificial intelligence in health care.’ Link: https://law.stanford.edu/press/when-ai-algorithms-decide-whether-your-insurance-will-cover-your-care/

‘Lawyers need to be provided with clear, practical guidance on existing rules about artificial intelligence rather than new regulation, the Law Society has told the government. ‘ Link: https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/existing-regulation-can-cope-with-ai-says-chancery-lane/5125510.article

‘Walk into pretty much any law school classroom, bar association meeting or legal tech conference these days and you will hear the same anxious refrain: Will artificial intelligence replace lawyers? It’s an understandable question.’ Link: https://www.transformingsociety.co.uk/2025/12/10/will-artificial-intelligence-replace-lawyers/

‘Elon Musk’s AI tool Grok has been used to create sexually violent and explicit video content featuring women, according to new research, as the British prime minister added to condemnation of images it has created.’ Link: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/09/grok-ai-create-sexually-violent-videos-featuring-women-research-finds

‘Some major retailers and independent stores have introduced AI body scans, CCTV or facial recognition equipment to identify crimes, such as shoplifting on their premises.’ Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/c98p1jg3p58o

‘Twelve months after Labour’s 50-point plan of action to stimulate the UK’s artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled economy, a new report shows billions of pounds are being invested in UK AI startups.’ Link: https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366636810/UKs-AI-plan-of-action-needs-to-shift-into-overdrive

‘Students and faculty are increasingly beginning their research by asking AI systems for explanations rather than by searching library resources. Chatbots and AI enhanced search tools now deliver fluent answers before users ever see a list of sources. This commentary argues that this “answer first” environment changes the starting point of academic inquiry and calls…

‘Smartphone footage has revolutionized how we document human rights violations, but is that trust now at risk? In this premiere episode, I speak with Professor Yvonne McDermott Rees, lead of the TRUE Project, about how the surge of deepfakes impacts trust in user-generated evidence in courts of law. Drawing on findings from the TRUE Project,…

‘The integration of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) is reshaping traditional legal pedagogy by introducing new dimensions to research, drafting, and personalized learning. Despite its transformative potential, the application of GAI in legal education remains promising and is accompanied by such challenges as algorithmic bias, privacy concerns, and the generation of fabricated or inaccurate content—issues that…

‘Study author says tech companies are reaping benefits of artificial intelligence age but society is left to pay cost.’ Link: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/dec/18/2025-ai-boom-huge-co2-emissions-use-water-research-finds

‘A re-presentation of material recently delivered at OECD HQ outlining the current status of incident reporting in the world and where we would like to take the community.’ Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOjTPSimNJk

‘I have increasingly encountered litigants in person in Court of Protection proceedings who appear to be using AI tools such as ChatGPT to assist them with their cases. This often presents innocuously: a well-structured email, a surprisingly polished position statement or a confident summary of legal principles. In many instances, the intention is plainly to…

‘The healthcare worker, who had a stellar performance record at work, felt helpless when bosses placed her on a Performance Improvement Plan.’ Link: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/woman-becomes-first-person-uk-36396901

‘The intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and neuroticism has gained increasing scholarly attention, influencing domains such as mental health, human–computer interaction, and AI-driven behavioural analysis. Despite growing research, there is limited synthesis of trends, influential contributors, and emerging themes in this field. This study aims to provide a comprehensive bibliometric overview of AI applications in…

‘The rapid integration of generative artificial intelligence tools, such as ChatGPT, into higher education has prompted debates about their influence on students’ cognitive and creative capacities. This quantitative, cross-sectional study surveyed 405 undergraduates to explore how academic discipline (STEM vs. non-STEM) and AI-related self-efficacy shape these perceptions. Results indicate that students hold moderately positive views…

‘The widespread adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) is likely to displace people from jobs in a similar way seen during the Industrial Revolution, the governor of the Bank of England has said.’ Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0r9280gvelo

‘There are no new indications as to what steps the UK government will take to update copyright law to account for the AI age, experts in intellectual property law have said following publication of a progress report.’ Link: https://www.pinsentmasons.com/out-law/news/uk-ai-copyright-report-reveals-little-progress

‘A legal tech startup led by a solicitor turned behavioural psychologist is aiming to capture the “invisible knowledge” of senior lawyers for the benefit of both junior lawyers and clients.’ Link: https://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/ai-tool-aims-to-capture-invisible-thinking-of-lawyers

‘f you’re thinking about buying your kid a new-fangled AI-powered toy for the holidays, may I kindly suggest you don’t? I’m sure most Guardian readers would be horrified by the very idea anyway, but it’s going to be hard to avoid the things soon. The market is booming and, according to the MIT Technology Review, there…

‘Universities are paying Big Tech AI for the privilege of acting as its global showroom. In this post, I argue that this is the wrong way round. When institutions like Oxford, Yale or Columbia sign university‑wide deals for generative AI tools, they are not just customers buying software. They are providing reputation, legitimacy and an…

‘One of the best things about doing legal research is, I suspect, the investigator-like thrill involved in the task at hand. When trying to identify the laws demanded by a research question, lawyers can often feel like undercover journalists chasing some big case, pursuing each probable lead and cutting all loose ends. They meticulously discriminate…

‘OpenAI says its products are saving professional workers up to an hour a day, according to a survey, as the ChatGPT maker looks to shore up its position as the enterprise AI platform of choice amid a growing challenge from Google.’ Link: https://qz.com/openai-says-chatgpt-saving-workers-hour-day-google-gemini-anthropic

‘Disney is hedging against the future. OpenAI is clearing a path for Sora. And together they’ve made a blueprint for how AI and Hollywood can move forward.’ Link: https://www.wired.com/story/disney-and-openais-deal-is-a-major-turning-point/

‘More lawyers are using artificial intelligence to write legal briefs. Some colleagues are publicizing the A.I.-generated errors.’ Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/business/lawyers-ai-vigilantes.html

‘While there has been extensive consideration of whether generative artificial intelligence (GAI) developers infringe copyright when scraping online works to train their systems, there has been limited analysis of the legal status and treatment of the underlying shadow libraries, which facilitate such infringement.’ Link: https://doi.org/10.1093/jiplp/jpaf072

‘More than 100 UK parliamentarians are calling on the government to introduce binding regulations on the most powerful AI systems as concern grows that ministers are moving too slowly to create safeguards in the face of lobbying from the technology industry.’ Link: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/dec/08/scores-of-uk-parliamentarians-join-call-to-regulate-most-powerful-ai-systems

‘OpenAI’s new guidelines ask its chatbot to celebrate “innovation,” contradicting its stated goal of objectivity—and raising questions about what objectivity even means.’ Link: https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025/12/chatgpts-self-serving-optimism/685165/

‘Economist and techno-optimist Noah Smith, author of the Noahpinion Substack, joins Offline to debate the promise of artificial intelligence, the benefits of online fragmentation (could it be good for our society?) and whether liberal nationalism is feasible—and a good thing. Though Noah and Jon differ on a lot of “Offline” themes, they find common ground…

‘In this entertaining and illuminating article, based on his very well received presentation at the BIALL Conference in Birmingham, Matthew Leopold explains the role of trust in magic, the law and AI. He goes on to assert that law librarians are the guardians of truth and accuracy, so we need to be at the forefront of checking…

‘Artificial intelligence is pretty good at taking law school exams, according to a growing body of research. Should it be used to grade them?’ Link: https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/ai-earns-high-marks-law-school-grading-2025-12-09/

‘Francesca Whitelaw KC highlights key points from recent guidance and authorities on the use of AI in legal practice.’ Link: https://www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk/information-law/344-information-law-features/99247-judging-the-use-of-ai

‘Schools across the UK are trialling the use of deepfake teachers and even employing remote staff to deliver lessons hundreds of miles away from the classroom.’ Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn9813x0vzdo

‘OpenAI is officially rolling out its latest model, o3-mini, starting today, Friday, Jan. 31. The company shared the news in a blog post on its website, just over a month after officially announcing the model during its “12 Days of OpenAI.”‘ Link: https://lifehacker.com/tech/openais-o3-mini-model-rolling-out-now

‘Many property disputes “could be amenable to machine-made decision-making” in the future, the Master of the Rolls (MR) has predicted.’ Link: https://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/vos-eyes-machine-made-decisions-for-property-disputes

Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Xa3JiFooq3YpnOoeuHn-t6TZWN5uaZaj/view

‘The UK government is partnering with Google DeepMind through a non-legally binding memorandum of understanding to use artificial intelligence (AI) to help deliver scientific breakthroughs and smarter public services.’ Link: https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366636163/Google-DeepMind-partners-with-UK-government-to-deliver-AI

‘The EU has opened an investigation to assess whether Google is breaching European competition rules in its use of online content from publishers and YouTube creators for artificial intelligence.’ Link: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/dec/09/eu-investigation-google-ai-models-gemini

Link” https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2025/1570.html

‘A single person claims to have authored 113 academic papers on artificial intelligence this year, 89 of which will be presented this week at one of the world’s leading conferences on AI and machine learning, which has raised questions among computer scientists about the state of AI research.’ Link: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/dec/06/ai-research-papers

‘Amother has been absolved by the Court of Appeal of any intention to mislead the court after her ‘erroneous’ authority citation in a family court case.’ Link: https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/mothers-use-of-ai-entirely-understandable-court-of-appeal-finds/5125382.article

‘The speed of development and use of artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly increasing. While the potential for AI to contribute to tackling global challenges, including climate change and biodiversity is widely acknowledged, various socio-ecological impacts arise during the lifecycle of AI. Such impacts arise from the extraction of rare earth elements in the manufacture of…

‘Artificial Intelligence is transforming justice systems worldwide, offering new possibilities to improve ac-cess to justice, streamline case management, and assist judicial decision-making. Yet, these innovations also bring complex ethical and human rights challenges. UNESCO’s Guidelines for the Use of AI in Courts and Tribunals present the first global ethical and operational framework to ensure that…

‘In the introduction, this Guidance note announces that “It updates and replaces the guidance document issued in April 2025”, which shows the speed at which AI is developing. It “sets out key risks and issues associated with using AI and some suggestions for minimising them”. And there have indeed been problems facing the judiciary lately…

‘A High Court judge who found AI-generated authorities in the submissions of a litigant in person has warned any lawyer who may have secretly helped her that they could face contempt proceedings.’ Link: https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/warning-to-lawyers-helping-lip-with-ai-generated-authorities/5125323.article

‘ChatGPT-5 is offering dangerous and unhelpful advice to people experiencing mental health crises, some of the UK’s leading psychologists have warned.’ Link: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/nov/30/chatgpt-dangerous-advice-mentally-ill-psychologists-openai