ODEC 9345 - Law and Technology

This course focuses on how law and technology interact with and reshape one another, examining the challenges associated with regulating new and emerging technologies. It aims to provide a general, practical and theoretical understanding of these challenges. While the course explores the role of law and other regulatory tools in influencing technological developments, it also considers the impact of technologies such as artificial intelligence and automated systems on key legal concepts and applications of legal norms. It also studies the changing functions performed by the law and legal actors and institutions in the digital era.

Throughout the course, you can expect to delve into specific case studies that highlight current substantive problems at the interface of law and technology. These case studies may cover topics such as the interactions between law, technology and the environment, data collection and related privacy concerns, surveillance systems and their implications for individual rights and rights of affected communities.

Please note that a background in science, information technology, or engineering is not a prerequisite for this course.

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• Students will write an essay (4000 words excluding footnotes) on a topic of their choice. The topic must relate to one of the specific or cross-cutting questions discussed in the course and must be preliminarily approved by the lecturer. They will submit their final essay notes at rebecca.mignotmahdavi@sciencespo.fr. (To avoid confusion, please submit your essay using the following heading: [NAME] – Law & Technology essay).
• Participation will be taken into account and will contribute to the award of one extra point (+1) or the loss of a point (-1). Active participation will be rewarded with one extra point (+1) and insufficient participation will be sanctioned by the loss of one point (-1).

The course will be delivered through interactive seminars where all students are expected to participate based on their reading of the materials prescribed for each seminar. Reading is compulsory. For each seminar, students will be expected to read between 1 and 3 pieces of scholarship (approx 3-4 hours of preparation per week in total). Participation is expected from everyone and will be taken into account in the evaluation.