Law and artificial intelligengce addressed and discussed

A conference addressing law and artificial intelligence was held recently under the auspices of the Faculty of Law at Reykjavík University, the Ministry of Culture, Innovation and Higher Education and Bentt. At the conference, Icelandic and international experts discussed the interaction between law and artificial intelligence from various perspectives, emphasising legal issues and upcoming legislation and developments in this field.

The conference proved to be a success and was sold out. Dr. Gunnar Þór Péturson, Dean of the Department of Law, is pleased with the day, emphasizing the role that the academic community has to play in promoting education and informed social debate.

It is essential that lawyers familiarize themselves well with AI technology and vice versa. On that basis, the Departments of Law and Computer Science at RU have started a formal collaboration where we will share knowledge and experience between departments and courses. At the RU Department of Law, we have already increased our focus on courses and research, taking into account that digital technology and artificial intelligence are intersecting with more and more areas of business and society. It is important to start the discussion about where the law stand on this important social issue that AI is. This is only the first step and we plan further events in the coming months.

Berglind Einarsdóttir, lawyer and founder of Bentt agrees with Gunnar's words and says that the conference has exceeded expectations.

It's so important to build a bridge between law and AI. The collaboration between the Department of Law at Reykjavik University, Bentt and the Ministry went well and was instructive for all of us. The event was very succesful and guests came from all the largest stakeholders in the business community, as well as government agencies and municipalities, were gathered. We were honoured that Logi Einarsson, Minister of Higher Education, Culture, and Innovation, was able to give a speech. This underlines the Ministry's commitment to the importance of the topic.

Logi Einarsson, Minister of Culture, Innovation and Higher Education, closed the conference and said in his speech that he wanted to use the opportunity to encourage more such events.

If we are to move forward in artificial intelligence, as the government has announced, we need more hands on deck, as the tasks and challenges are not scarce.  This is not a conversation or work that only occurs within the ministry's walls. This is the task of society as a whole: collaboration between the public sector, companies and academia.

Berglind Einarsdóttir chaired the meeting. Dr. Gunnar Þór opened the conference and introduced the schedule.