[author]Zheng Ge

[content]

Zheng Ge  Rethinking on the Future of Artificial Intelligence and Law

*Author Zheng Ge

Professor at Kaiyuan Law School of Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Director of the Planning Committee of the Chinese Academy of Law and Social Studies at Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Abstract: Artificial intelligence is often envisioned as a technology that replaces humans. In the legal field, robot judges and robot lawyers often raise concerns, especially with the breakthrough development of generative artificial intelligence causing a new round of anxiety about "machines replacing humans". But human-machine symbiosis and human-machine interaction are the common phenomena now and in the future. Starting from human-computer interaction and developing relevant rules around the principle of "people in the loop", we can effectively prevent and control risks and actual damages of artificial intelligence, and fully utilize technology to assist and strengthen human work, including legal work, so that artificial intelligence can serve the purpose of enhancing human well-being.

Artificial intelligence has become a universal technology in our era. The so-called universal technology refers to a technology whose use is not limited to a specific field, but can be applied to multiple fields (including areas that humans have not yet thought of). This technology will inevitably affect and change social relations, including production relations, and changes in social relations will bring about changes in legal relations. Some of these changes can be absorbed through the interpretation and continuation of existing legal rules, while others require innovation at the legislative level. Meanwhile, just like electricity, communication, and previous computer technologies, artificial intelligence, as a universal technology, is also changing the working form of the legal profession itself. Most of the existing discussions have focused on "substitution", which means whether artificial intelligence will replace the work of lawyers, corporate lawyers, judges, and prosecutors. But the common situation in reality and the foreseeable future is "assisting", "empowering", and "strengthening". Whether it's thinking about how to regulate the application and development of artificial intelligence technology through laws (algorithmic laws), or discussing how to empower the formulation, interpretation, and implementation of laws through artificial intelligence (algorithmic laws), a fundamental fact we need to face is the ubiquitous human-computer interaction phenomenon in the digital society. On the one hand, the law needs to protect human dignity and rights in human-computer interaction scenarios, prevent various small programs and e-commerce platforms from excessively collecting and abusing personal information, and support human subjectivity in the online world manipulated by algorithms; On the other hand, the operational scenarios of the law itself are becoming increasingly digital and intelligent, and human-computer interaction has become a fundamental feature of legal professionals' daily work. The concepts of "wisdom" in smart legislation, smart government, smart courts, smart prosecutors, and smart public security do not refer to human intelligence, but to artificial intelligence. It can be said that human-computer interaction is the main form of current and even foreseeable future legal work; Artificial intelligence will not replace legal professionals, but it will change the way legal professionals work; Machines will not replace people, but those who can use machines will replace those who cannot; It is very important for legal professionals to use technology to enhance their professional abilities.

This article takes human-computer interaction, a common phenomenon in the digital society, as the starting point to analyze how to develop human centered artificial intelligence (Human-centered AI) through appropriate rules and institutional design in the legal and algorithmic dimensions of algorithms, so as to make technology serve the beautiful and good life of humanity.

1、 The Concept and Types of Artificial Intelligence

Starting from the concept of artificial intelligence is to highlight the basic clues of this article, namely human-computer interaction and the principle of human-centered artificial intelligence design. There is no unified definition for artificial intelligence. There is a popular joke among software engineers: "Artificial intelligence refers to something that computers cannot do yet. If it does, we won't call it artificial intelligence, but computer science." This joke actually reveals a very professional judgment: artificial intelligence is actually the profession we used to call computer science, which is the cutting-edge part of the profession aimed at breaking existing boundaries, Enable computers to do things that were previously impossible. A widely influential textbook in the field of artificial intelligence summarizes four ways to define artificial intelligence: machines that think like humans; A machine that acts like a human; A machine for rational thinking; A machine of rational action. This classification can basically summarize the commonly used definitions of artificial intelligence (see Table 1).

Table 1