Artificial intelligence (AI) – both in its current, comparatively limited form and even more so in its potential future forms (such as general and superintelligence) – has raised both concerns and hopes. Its actual and potential consequences are increasingly far-reaching, affecting almost every facet of human life on a collective and individual level: from the use of mobile phones and social media to autonomous weapons, and from the digitalization of knowledge and information to the patentability of AI innovations, unexpected philosophical, ontological, political and legal questions continue to arise.

This book offers an insightful and essential guide to the scientific questions that are shaping humanity’s present and future. Presenting a collection of academic essays written by prominent scholars, it addresses the major legal issues concerning AI: its impact on a wide range of human behavior and the general legal response, including questions on AI and legal personhood;responsibility, liability and culpability in the age of AI; the challenges AI poses for intellectual property regimes; human rights challenges; and AI’s impact on jus ad bellum and jus in bello.

Given its scope, the book will appeal to researchers, scholars and practitioners seeking a guide to this rapidly transforming landscape.