ABSTRACT
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer a topic of science-fiction. It is already being implemented and has started to substitute human labor in many areas, a trend that is likely to increase in the following years. In this chapter, the reciprocal relationships between AI and the law will be analyzed from the perspective of the Argentinian legal system, including comparisons to other Latin American jurisdictions (a comparative legal approach). Moreover, the analysis goes beyond the formalistic legal-dogmatic method in favor of an economic approach to law, with the aim of understanding the effects of legal norms on human behavior in the real world. In particular, the likely impact of A.I. in three areas of law will be studied in this chapter (1) Labor and employment law (the impact of non-human labor in the labor market, the risk of mass redundancy, human-labor quotas, towards a universal basic income). (2) Competition and intellectual property law (start-ups and incentives to R&D in AI, ownership of inventions and creative works generated by AI, exceptions and limitations to copyrighted contents to facilitate machine learning). (3) Civil and criminal liability (AI, insurance and accidents; can computers kill? should they go to prison? AI, crime and punishment for non-human beings). Given the existing socio-cultural and institutional similarities, the lessons from this chapter could be extrapolated to other Latin American countries. All things considered, we expect to answer the following overarching questions: (a) How well prepared are Latin American legal systems to face the challenges derived from Industrial Revolution 4.0.?, (b) Which legal and policy changes (de lege ferenda) would be required to prepare Latin American countries for a smooth transition to the next phase of the Information Age? (c) How could Latin American countries harness the full socio-economic potential of AI.
