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Welcome to AI Law 2026

Welcome to AI Law & Policy for Spring 2026. We meet Tuesdays & Thursdays at 10:40-am-12:10pm, via Zoom.  Please register for zoom now.

Here is your first assignment:

  1. Find the class blog at https://ai26.umlaw.net and fill in the access popup with user: AI and pass:AI2026.  All future assignments and other important information will appear on this blog.
  2. Please read the class policies.
  3. Well before the first class, please email me at froomkin@law.miami.edu
    1. Please use an email account where I can reach you if I need to.
    2. Please use “AI26: [your name]” as the subject line of your email.  (Attn bots – Substitute your actual name for “[your name]” please.)
    3. In the body of the email, please tell me a little about yourself; please also include–at the end–your preferred pronouns. (Mine are he/him/his.) Also include a telephone number where you can be reached in emergencies.
    4. Also, please tell me what you hope to get out of the class.
  4. Before the first reading, make a few notes that we can discuss in our first class about:
    1. How you think most people would define an “artificial intelligence”
    2. How you personally would define an “artificial intelligence” — if that’s any different from the above.
  5. After you have done the above, please read Pages 1-13 & 17-25 of Neil Richards`& William Smart, How Should the Law Think About Robots? (you may skip section 3).  Please be prepared to discuss these questions:
    1. Do you agree with the argument in Richards & Smart?
    2. Do you think the Richards & Smart argument applies with equal force to AI as it does to robots? If not, is it more or less applicable?
    3. What do you suspect are/will be the major legal/regulatory/social issues posed by the increased use and sophistication of AI (however defined)?
    4. Who is likely to be most affected by AI? How should these groups’ views be reflected in the policy-making process?
    5. Abstractly, what entities, private or public, are best suited to make decisions as to AI regulation/policy?

You will also want to have a look at the terms of Writing Assignment I and Writing Assignment II. Please note that, depending on class size. I will be asking each of you to serve as an on-call panelist for some number of classes.