Hello, dear readers, and welcome to the last(-ish) AI, Law, and Otter Things of 2023! This has not been an easy year—but, despite the general state of the world, I cannot complain about how my professional and personal lives have evolved in the last 12 months. Because I have already done a retrospective issue back in July, I will spare you from that now.1 Instead, I will share a few recommendations, some opportunities (jobs and call for papers), and a lovely otter by the end.
My original plan was to include an essayistic section in this issue. Because my two brain cells2 are already on holiday mode, that essay is something I wrote some time ago, a section from a chapter that I decided to drop from my thesis but might still be interesting to some of you. However, that essay ended up a bit too long, even after I cut down most of the discursive footnotes. And we are now on holiday season, so a wall of text is even more likely to trigger a TL;DR reaction. So, tomorrow you should receive a bonus issue in your inbox, to read at your leisure, and today’s issue will be shorter and merrier.
To keep in with this vibe, I will also refrain from ranting about the AI Act. The press releases by the Parliament and the Council, from almost two weeks ago now, show the core features of what was agreed upon. From these bits of information, one can already criticize some of the decisions made, such as the erosion of safeguards against surveillance. However, many of the issues in which I might say something of interest—beyond what I said in previous issues of this newsletter and in other venues—depends on details that are not settled yet. Therefore, I will keep my opinions (mostly) to myself until we see the text that will be produced from the “technical” details that are still pending.
Recommendations
Over the brief instants in which I considered making this issue a retrospective of my 2023, I couldn’t help but think about Wisława Szymborska’s poem Under One Small Star.
Thinking about poetry reminded me of Sara Teasdale’s There Will Come Soft Rains, which also inspired one of my favourite Ray Bradbury short stories.
Another thing that jumped to mind while writing this newsletter is Tom Lehrer’s song about Wernher von Braun. Surely this has nothing with this newsletter’s contents, and it’s only because my wife is now watching For All Mankind for the first time. But, if you don’t know Tom Lehrer and his opus (now in the public domain), you might want to check it out over the holidays.
The Responsible Sensing Lab, in partnership with The Incredible Machine has a neat project on “Design sprint tools for third-party scrutiny” which you should check out.
Once again, Lighthouse Reports delivers another in-depth investigation of profiling algorithms. This time, they covered a fraud risk scoring algorithm that apparently assesses half the French population—but, as one might expect, with lots of disparate treatment involved. Their methodological post is a must-read for those investigating algorithms in journalistic, activist, or scholarly research.
has written a fascinating essay on the origins of the steam engine in Europe, from the Greeks onwards. The essay is accompanied by animations by Matt Brown that show how each of the landmark devices they highlight worked, making the technical concepts more digestible.Finally, a few academic papers that might interest you (hopefully, after the break!):
Isabelle Fest and others, ‘Understanding Data Professionals in the Police: A Qualitative Study of System-Level Bureaucrats’ (2023) 25 Public Management Review 1664.
Katarina Foss-Solbrekk, ‘Searchlights across the Black Box: Trade Secrecy versus Access to Information’ (2023) 50 Computer Law & Security Review 105811.
Ulla-Maija Mylly, ‘Transparent AI? Navigating Between Rules on Trade Secrets and Access to Information’ [2023] IIC.
Henrik Palmer Olsen and others, ‘The Right to Transparency in Public Governance Freedom of Information and the Use of Artificial Intelligence by Public Agencies’ [2023] Digit Gov: Res Pract 3632753.
Kate Starbird, ‘Facts, Frames, and (Mis)Interpretations: Understanding Rumors as Collective Sensemaking’ (Center for an Informed Public, 12 June 2023).
Opportunities
The European Public Law Organization (EPLO) is looking for Resident Teaching Staff and Fellows for their campuses in Athens (Greece) and Cascais (Portugal). Applications are open until 26 January 2024.
UACES 2024 will take place in Trento (Italy) in early September 2024. They are accepting submissions until 21 January 2024, both for the open track and for their many themed tracks (including “EU Digital Governance and Law”).
Data Privacy Brasil, Paradigm Initiative and Aapti Institute have launched a new fund on Datafication and Democracy. This fund is an ongoing effort to support initiatives on this topic in the Global Majority. Their first round of applications is open until 29 February 2024, and they invite applications “so that civil organizations from the Global South can organize their work and influence institutional spaces responsible for formulating principles and standards for these new areas.”
OpenAI is looking for an EU Member States Policy & Partnerships Lead, Global Affairs. The position can be based out of based out of Dublin, Paris, Madrid or Brussels, and they offer relocation.
EDRi is looking for a Head of Policy, based in Brussels. Applications are open until 14 January 2024.
Trinity College Dublin is looking for an Assistant Professor in (commercial) EU law, including but “not limited to the following: competition law, intellectual property law, information technology law, financial services law, private international law, public procurement law, trade law.” Applications are open until 22 January 2024.
Finally, the otter
Happy holidays, and I hope to see you next year!
In Brazil, we would call them “Tico e Teco”, which is the localized name of the main Rescue Rangers. So please feel free to read this issue in their voice.