AI AND LAW: IN PLACE OF AN INTRODUCTION

Abstract

As scientific and technological advancements bring machines closer to artificial thinking, if not even to full-fledged thought, computers evolve from mere calculators, capable of basic arithmetic operations, to devices that can simulate the functioning of the brain and its neural learning processes. While increasingly sophisticated devices are being built, particularly those aimed at guiding decisions and inducing behaviors, a substantial debate arises about the intelligence of machines, the mental processes detached from the body, and the need to establish adequate regulations and inviolable ethical boundaries without hindering innovation. Moreover, as the boundary between the natural and the artificial becomes ever more elusive, the human species itself transforms, evolving (or perhaps devolving) into something manufactured. Human-machine interaction may not always evoke a sensation similar to that experienced with living entities, but one thing is certain: AI will continue to develop, with all the legal and ethical implications and consequences that ensue. Hence, what future awaits human nature?