HBKU’s College of Law considers AI, art and legal challenges

The College of Law at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) recently hosted its first seminar in the Law and Tech Talk (LTT) Series, featuring three Education City artists who described how technology, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), is shaping their art. Their insights fostered a critique of the existing legal regime to protect artists.Art has evolved side-by-side with the developments in technology. The three Education City-based artists have been demonstrating how, with the emergence of technology, computers can create sophisticated works of art in a way that could minimise, or even eliminate, human input. Hadeer Omar, assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar (VCUarts Qatar); Jesse Payne, associate professor, VCUarts Qatar; and Dr James She, associate professor, College of Science and Engineering, HBKU, have been at the forefront of their field. Dr She, a computer engineer by training, launched the first AI and art event in Qatar in 2019.The legal implications of the art they generate, through AI technologies and other digital tools, are slowly emerging. The seminar presented several open-ended questions and explored whether the result is actually art, who the artist is, and the nature of ownership when reflecting the artwork of others or resulting from an algorithm.Dean Susan L Karamanian, College of Law, moderated the discussion. The nuanced exchange highlighted the challenges, from a legal perspective, of regulating and interpreting copyright, authorship and contractual aspects such as financing and reproduction.After the seminar, Karamanian said: “The work of Education City-based artists raises the fundamental issue of whether the existing legal regime is sufficient to protect the rights of creators. The situation is ripe for an interdisciplinary approach as any legal reform must understand how artists use technology, which can involve complex processes. Our speakers aptly highlighted areas in which our current legal discourse has shortcomings. We are already integrating these areas in our research and teaching at the College of Law, and through our Law and Tech Talk Series we hope to continue these conversations to encourage forward-thinking in our analysis of societal and technological changes.”The College of Law regularly holds events that showcase its research interests and activities. For more information, one can visit cl.hbku.edu.qa