CLCT Welcomes Chinese Delegation

November 5, 2019

Professors from ECUPL and William & Mary in front of the law school

CLCT welcomed Professors Changshan Ma, Zhiyuan Zhang, Xiaojun Pan, Xiaoxia Deng, and Office Director Zhuohua Zhang from the East China University of Politics and Law in Shanghai for a thought-provoking discussion on some of the legal issues that arise from the growth of AI, IoT, and related technologies. This visit was possible because of an on-going relationship between W&M and ECUPL, facilitated by W&M’s robust LL.M. program.

The delegation was greeted by CLCT Director Fred Lederer, Deputy Director Iria Giuffrida, Buswell Fellow Lindsey Whitlow, and Visiting Professor Nicolas Vermeys, Associate Dean of Programs and Assistant Director of the Cyberjustice Laboratory at the University of Montreal.

Some of the issues covered were:

  • How United States common law and civil law in China approach the use of AI;
  • The challenge of explaining AI and related technologies to lawyers not already educated in the field;
  • How assigning liability can be complicated by the presence of autonomous AI systems; and
  • How the legal industry is changing with advent and proliferation of AI, the IoT, and related technologies.

CLCT Research Fellow Jason Lai was instrumental in communicating complex ideas and research to our visitors and ensuring the flow of conversation through potential language barriers. A huge thank you to Ali Trivette for her assistance with the logistics of this program.