Global law firm Herbert Smith Freehills has launched an AI-powered tool to help clients keep on top of the swiftly evolving field of AI policy and regulation – which is all very meta. It has been built by the firm’s Emerging Technology Group.
The HSF AI Tracker will ‘capture the core AI principles and regulations released by governments, alongside the broader spectrum of existing laws that apply to AI technology’. It has been used over 5,500 times in its pilot phase across all industry sectors, the firm said.
It builds upon the group’s development of the firm’s ‘digital marketplace’ – see here, which offers a range of six tools, including ones for privilege, ESG, dawn raids, and now AI policy.
The AI-developed database will be ‘updated regularly, allowing users to monitor key legal development including case law and court decisions which transform existing legal frameworks and establish new precedents….across 12 jurisdictions. Beginning with the UK, Australia and countries in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East’. There is a roadmap to add others, they added.
It will cover:
‘AI policy, capturing the principles, guidance, and documents that governments release to articulate and advance their AI goals and ambitions
AI regulation, covering the emerging codex of binding regulations that policymakers are introducing on AI development, use, and investment
AI-related law, exploring the spectrum of adjacent laws that apply to AI technology, such as data protection, data security, and intellectual property
Case law and judicial decisions that are modifying existing legal principles and establishing new precedents on AI technology and use cases.’
Alexander Amato-Cravero, director of Emerging Technology Advisory and Legal Operations Advisory at Herbert Smith Freehills, commented: ‘Effective AI risk management demands that organisations understand and monitor changes in the laws and regulations that apply to them. The rapid pace at which AI policy is evolving, combined with increasing fragmentation between approaches taken by policymakers worldwide, makes this extremely challenging for businesses with multinational footprints.
‘Our aim is to simplify the process, helping those in legal, risk, and compliance teams to cut through the noise and quickly identify key AI policy and regulatory information across key jurisdictions.’
Jamie Ball, manager in Herbert Smith Freehills’ Emerging Technology Advisory team, added: ‘The regulatory landscape surrounding AI technology is especially complex. With access to a snapshot of the full spectrum of AI policy and regulation, legal, risk, and compliance teams will be better able to make informed decisions.’
Is this a big deal?
It’s a move that makes perfect sense. The data is out there. GenAI and more mundane search techniques, plus some careful curation and quality checking of sources, will provide any law firm with a database covering the areas above.
That Herbies has turned this into a distinct ‘tool’ and then made it available to clients as part of their digital marketplace then takes it to the next level.
Perhaps an additional stage would be a facility that allowed users to quickly find and insert regulatory wording and references to policy within the AI Tracker into a contract or legal brief they are writing? I.e. to turn it into a direct-to-work product KM resource.
As noted, it’s certainly timely, given the way the world is grappling with AI rules. In the US, it’s now even more unclear what will come of existing attempts to regulate AI, given strong opposition from various quarters. Meanwhile, the EU is thinking of rewriting parts of its only recently launched EU AI Act, over fears they’ve been too restrictive. And the UK is still conflicted about what to do on a range of AI-related issues, with plenty of lobbyists working on different sides of the arguments, especially on ownership of artistic creations.
Overall, it’s a useful and timely tool, it’s AI driven, and it creates value for clients and the firm’s own lawyers.
You can find more about the AI tracker here.
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