Law and Technology: ‘Human Rights in the Digital Age’ Short Course

• Dr Giulia Gentile - Dr Gentile is a Lecturer in Law at Essex Law School and an expert in AI, digital regulation and public law. Her research focuses on the promotion of human rights in the digital society and EU constitutional law. She is particularly interested in the use of AI in the legal profession and in justice systems. Currently, she is a co-PI for the EU Horizon 2021-2027 collaborative project EXPRESS2. Dr Gentile has led several research projects funded among others from the EU Commission and UKRI on the rule of law, public values and digitisation and has provided expert evidence to the UK Parliament on issues concerning the protection of fundamental rights in the UK and digital regulation, and to the European Commission concerning the political rights of the disabled and e-voting procedures. Dr Gentile is a qualified lawyer at the Italian Bar Association and has gained legal experience, among others, at the chambers of Judge Lucia Serena Rossi at the Court of Justice of the European Union and at the M&A Department of Clifford Chance (Milan).
• Dr Matthew Gillett - Dr Gillett is a senior lecturer in Law at Essex Law School and an international lawyer. He focuses on human rights, digital technology, atrocity crimes, and environmental justice. He was appointed as a United Nations Special Mandate Holder in 2022 and is currently the Chair of the Human Rights Council’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. Dr Gillett has published widely on matters relating to international law, digital technology, peace and security and the environment. His works appear in publications such as the Journal of International Criminal Justice, the Michigan Journal of International Law, the International Criminal Law Review, the Criminal Law Forum, the Australian International Law Journal, the Journal of Law and Medicine, and the Yale Journal of International Affairs. He has won multiple awards for his academic work, including the Inaugural Benjamin B. Ferencz Essay Competition and the Sherman Emerging Scholar prize. For nearly 15 years Dr Gillett worked in international organisations in The Hague primarily as a Prosecution Trial Attorney and Appeals Counsel.
• Professor Audrey Guinchard - Professor Audrey Guinchard is a Lecturer at Essex Law School, whose current research is at the intersection of data protection, cybercrime, cybersecurity, and human rights, exploring how digital technologies challenge traditional legal concepts and regulatory frameworks. She has been actively involved in the project of Reforming the Computer Misuse Act 1990 as promoted and coordinated by the Criminal Law Reform Network (CRLNN).  The double degree she created in 2002, the LLB English and French Laws, has won the UK Academic Award 2018 by the Franco-British Lawyers Society (FBLS) for the best double degree in the UK.

This course is a total of 13.5 hours, split across 9 sessions of 90 minutes.

Here is a summary of the course’s programme.

All sessions are 17:00 – 18:30 UK time

Session 1: 22 April: Concepts: digitisation, and the protection of human rights in the AI era

The advancement of AI is capturing public imaginaries and raises novel legal questions. This session will offer an overview of the interplay between digital technologies, with a focus on AI, and human rights. It will address the following questions: what is digitisation, and how does it interact with the law? How does digitisation, and especially artificial intelligence, affect human rights?

Session 2: 23 April: Legal framework: human rights and digital technology

AI can have a significant impact on fundamental legal entitlements. For instance, it can be used in the form of facial recognition technology for border controls, or as algorithms to process claims for social benefits. This session will explore the legal frameworks on human rights protection, as well as emerging international law instruments governing AI technologies in a human rights context. Students will critically assess the effectiveness of those frameworks, and the challenges linked to the enforcement of human rights against AI systems.

Session 3: 24 April: AI, technology and online safety and freedom of expression

With the emergence of AI and the growing ubiquity of social media platforms, balancing online safety and freedom of expression is more topical than ever. The human right to freedom of expression is a universally recognised human right, which is axiomatic for the functioning of democratic society. However, exceptions are permitted to this right, and governments are increasingly seeking to have social media companies take responsibility for harms caused online on their platforms. This session will explore the legal and human rights frameworks governing online expression and safety and examine the ways in which new technologies are testing previous legal approaches in this area.

Session 4: 25 April: AI, technology and privacy

AI can challenge the basics of data protection rules which were created to reduce the risks data processing creates to privacy. We will use real-life case studies to understand whether and how AI can be a threat to privacy and whether the legal framework of data protection can effectively curb risks to privacy. The answers may well surprise you: it’s not just the law that can be the problem!

Session 5: 28 April: AI, technology and criminal justice rights

Criminal justice has been revolutionised by the introduction of new technology in the past, most notably through DNA identification in recent decades. AI and digital technologies portend similar systemic adjustments, with potential threats to human rights. They encompass not only new forms of evidence but also novel means of recalibrating the functioning of criminal justice from arrests on the streets to the courtroom to incarceration centres. Predictive justice presents the starkest manifestation of this new frontier.

Session 6: 29 April: AI, technology and the environment 

Earth’s natural environment faces a myriad threats in the 21st Century. Technology, and particularly AI, can assist to redress those challenges. Their advances are important for international environmental justice, as they permit remote sensing and analysis, including for use by institutions turning their focus to environmental threats, such as the International Criminal Court. Conversely, digital technology and AI are rapidly increasing their ecological footprint and may generate non-ecocentric solutions. We will draw on these multiple facets to understand the potential benefits and challenges of AI and digital technology for the protection of nature. 

Session 7: 30 April: AI, technology and non-discrimination

AI is trained with data that pre-exists and thus reflects human past decisions or conducts. As a result, AI may draw inferences from and replicate data that can contains bias. Scandals such as the Amazon’s employment tool that was discriminating women or various algorithms used by the police and issuing arrest decisions against minorities are examples of the bias problem affecting AI.This session will analyse selected case studies and will critically reflect on how to tackle the bias challenge in AI and algorithmic systems.

Session 8: 1 May: AI, technology and the gig economy and labour rights

AI tools are deployed to substitute tasks carried out by workers and professionals. They are also increasingly used to support the provision of services through AI-driven platforms. As a result, fears in the job market are mounting. Is AI going to take over human jobs? This session will evaluate the implications of AI in the labour market and the protections for workers in the AI era. 

Session 9: 2 May: AI, technology and democratic participation

The Cambridge Analytica scandal is but one example of the ability of algorithms and social media to influence the democratic life of countries across the world. Algorithms and artificial intelligence can also shape democracy by facilitating the spreading deepfakes of prominent political figures, or by allowing the creation of fake images with a manipulated politically charged content. This session will address the following question: what legal guarantees should be in place to ensure that AI and digital technologies do not undermine democracy? 

Participants are advised to calculate additional time for reading and homework as each session requires about an hour of preparation material, including short readings, assessments, and reflective questions.

In taking this course participants will:

• Gain an understanding of the concepts of AI, digital technology, and the interplay with human rights
• Acquire specialist knowledge concerning AI, technology and the specific topics (express, criminal justice, etc…) addressed in the sessions.
• Gain a critical understanding of the challenges linked to the use of AI and technology in these fields, including through relevant human rights institutions.

The content of the course is specifically tailored to professionals (including in the human rights and/or technology sectors) looking to increase their knowledge of issues at the intersection of digital technology and human rights.

The course is also suited to recently graduated students looking to obtain knowledge of digital technology and A.I.

The course is delivered entirely in English. Thus, you are required to be highly competent in English.

Please note, to take part in the short course virtually you will need access to a laptop/computer and have a reliable internet connection.

To take advantage of our Early Bird Discount please complete your application and submit payment by 17 January 2025. Please get in touch for details of further discounts that are available for organisations wishing to enrol participants in bulk.