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31 January 2025 / Ian McDougall
Issue: 8102 / Categories: Features , Profession , Artificial intelligence , Technology , Regulatory
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The AI emperor has no clothes

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Is sheer panic & confusion driving the push to regulate artificial intelligence? Ian McDougall highlights the folly of legislating for something that doesn’t exist
  • Despite the rush to push through legislation specifically designed to regulate artificial intelligence (AI), the bulk of issues raised pre-date the development of AI, and are therefore already covered by existing legislation.

Firstly, I acknowledge that this article has come too late to influence the topic. The horse has bolted, the train has left the station, and the diva is already singing. Nonetheless, I still feel I should put these thoughts on the record. Sometimes being a lone voice is lonely, but I am patient. The points I am about to raise are as inevitable as they are frustrating.

So, with that lengthy and cryptic introduction, I shall give you the conclusion first, and then explain why. The conclusion: I am not convinced that there is a need for any artificial intelligence (AI)-specific regulation. It causes more confusion than any problem it

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NEWS
The Attorney General, Ellie Reeves KC MP, and Solicitor General, Andy Slaughter KC MP, marked the 25th anniversary of Pro Bono Week by joining lawyers, charities, students and parliamentarians at events celebrating voluntary legal work
Witness evidence can be compromised by AI before a solicitor sees the draft, leaving safeguards focused on authorship incomplete
Possession claims are entering a new digital era, with procedural traps awaiting practitioners who assume familiar rules still govern every step
A polished legal defence may owe more to artificial intelligence than legal merit—and creditors risk paying the price in delay and expense
An indemnity costs battle with a £20m gap could reopen an important question: what weight should an approved budget carry?
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