Ateneo - UPO

The course aims to offer a critical study of legal informatics in relation to both the concept of law in the strict sense and contemporary society as a whole. The first part of the course will focus on artificial intelligence. It will begin with an analysis of the concept of intelligence as developed through various fields of knowledge, before moving on to the specific nature of what we call AI. We will then analyse the various points of intersection between AI and legality, exploring the so-called “legal informatics”, with particular emphasis on the issue of predictive justice. Specifically, the latter will be related to the “rhetorical” criticism of the syllogistic method in law. Next, we will analyse “information technology law”, with particular attention to the AI ACT and the GDPR. In the second part of the course, we will explore the connections between law and digital society in a broader sense. We will focus on the social transformations that the information society is undergoing. In particular, we will address philosophical and legal issues raised by the pervasiveness of social networks, the changing role of public opinion, the crisis of digital democracy, and the issue of the truthfulness of information in public debate. Students with disabilities or Specific Learning Disorders or Special Educational Needs can request specific services and tools dedicated to them by contacting the Staff Sviluppo e Coordinamento Carriere e Servizi alle Studentesse e agli Studenti and consulting the dedicated page on the University page https://www.uniupo.it/en/services/servicesstudents-physical-or-learning-disabilities. Once they have contacted the University Staff, Students with disabilities, learning disabilities or special education needs can contact the course lecturer to discuss the exam format and other teaching aspects.

L'intelligenza artificiale e il diritto (Giovanni Sartor, Giappichelli, 2022); selected chapters taken from Il caso degli Speleologi (Lon Fuller); Argomentazione giuridica e retorica forense (Maurizio Manzin); Essere una macchina (Mark O'Connell) and others provided in class.

Students will acquire: the basics of legal informatics; an understanding of the relationship between AI and law with regard to the main techniques used in law and the most relevant regulatory provisions on artificial intelligence; the ability to relate the rhetoric and topical issues of the trial to the hypotheses of predictive justice; the ability to carry out a critical analysis of the relationship between information technology and today's society; the ability to reflect on democracy in relation to the digital society and the issue of fake news.

No one

In addition to lectures, opportunities for individual study will be offered. There will also be opportunities for critical discussion of previously assigned texts and exercises.

The examination consists of a written section with two open-ended questions on Sartor's text and an oral section in which each candidate will present an in-depth analysis based on other materials provided during the course.

-Definition of the concept of ‘intelligence’ through various disciplines (philosophy, psychology, logic, computer science); distinction between human and artificial intelligence: investigation of the differences between human cognitive abilities and their simulation through algorithms (strong and weak artificial intelligence) - study of the main types of AI (deterministic, statistical, machine learning, deep learning) - relationships between AI and law: analysis of the areas in which AI interacts with the legal system. Introduction to the concepts of: legal informatics (use of IT tools in legal interpretation and decision-making processes) and automation of justice. Study of systems that use statistical models to predict judicial decisions - Discussion of the critique of the syllogistic model of law - IT law: analysis of the legal rules governing digital technologies. In-depth study of two key regulatory instruments: the AI Act (European regulation of artificial intelligence) and the GDPR (European regulation on personal data protection). Assessment of the impacts on autonomy, privacy and responsibility - Social transformations in the information society: understanding the role of data and digital platforms in everyday life. Analysis of the transition from vertical communication (traditional media) to interactive and horizontal communication (social networks) - emerging philosophical and legal issues: pervasiveness of social networks and control of attention. Changing role of public opinion: from critical discussion to polarisation. Crisis of digital democracy: information interference, algorithmic personalisation of content, difficulty in building common deliberative spaces - theme of truth in the infosphere: fake news, post-truth, narrative manipulation. Implications for platform accountability and digital civic education.

Knowledge of the topics indicated; development of critical analysis skills regarding the use of AI in legal reasoning and legal practice; development of knowledge and in-depth analysis of the legal instruments governing AI; development of analytical and reflective skills relating to the digital society, with a focus on the issues of truth, democracy and public opinion.