Law, Cognitive Technologies & Artificial Intelligence
New Study Programme for 21st Century Legal Experts

A study programme to enable legal experts to deal with the new challenges posed by the emergence of cognitive technologies, artificial intelligence and automation in legal practice.

The fifth edition of this programme is aimed at all legal and policy analysts, experts and observers who wish to prepare for and learn about the technological changes brought by those technologies. Even legal practitioners who are not specialists in new technologies – especially artificial intelligence – are increasingly having to deal with them, and so this certificate offers initial, practical training about this subject.

Context

Why have courses on artificial intelligence (AI) aimed at people who are not computer scientists or engineers?

AI is nothing new. It has been talked about for several decades now. However, in recent years we have seen major advances in this field, due to undeniable technical progress and ever more efficient data processing (big data).

AI has become part of our lives – sometimes without us even realising it. Search engines, social media, smartphones and music or video-on-demand platforms are already based on algorithms that are able to learn from their users.

AI is set to radically change our society. While previous industrial revolutions generally led to the automation of physical tasks, the current revolution focuses on automating all tasks, including those that are of a more intellectual nature.

While in geopolitical terms Europe is lagging behind the United States and China on AI, it does have a contribution to make. The latest proof is the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which reminded everybody that they owned their own data. The European Commission has made digitalisation one of its priorities, publishing a White Paper addressing this topic.

Programme aims

  1. Legal, political and ethical challenges

    This automation of our lives poses a real challenge for the law, given that the rules currently in force may turn out to be unsuitable or insufficient to cope with this new reality.

    This could have an impact on all aspects of the law, including liability law (civil/criminal, contractual/non-contractual), intellectual property, trade secrets, competition, consumer protection, privacy protection, insurance law and judicial law. Sooner or later, the changes brought about by AI will affect every single area.

    The aim of this programme is to help legal advisers and public policymakers better understand these changes, anticipate them and guide them where appropriate.

  2. Multidisciplinary training (both legal and technical)

    To grasp AI’s impact on our society, it is worth learning about the technical aspects as well: understanding how an algorithm works, getting to grips with IT jargon, understanding what is meant by ‘deep learning’, ‘neural network’, and so on. This is also about teaching legal advisers about technology. Legal advisers and policymakers need to have a working understanding of technological concepts in order to provide better counsel to their clients, companies or public authorities.

    With this in mind, the courses are run by both legal advisers and technical experts. The technical experts use concrete, understandable language to shed light on changes in our society and the huge potential of AI and cognitive technologies.

    Special emphasis is placed on sectors where AI is growing the most at themoment: mobility, finance, healthcare and legal services.

Evolve with technology

Provide legal practitioners with an accessible exposure to cognitive technologies and AI.


Understand the cognitive legal world

Help legal practitioners understand how cognitive technologies and AI create adaptability challenges for the law in various fields, including liability, legal personhood, insurance, taxation, etc.

Basic and in-depth knowledge of the most important aspects of cognitive technologies, theoretical, practical and political. By the end of the programme, students will have a full understanding of the majors facets of the subject. The programme also focuses on different national strategies, according to the teachers’ nationalities.

Skills acquired during
the programme

  • Aspect theoretical

    What is AI? What are the applicable law?

  • Aspect practical

    How can I use AI to upgrade my organization

  • Aspect political

    What is automated law enforcement?
    How are States going to implement AI in public sectors?

Participant’s profile

This programme is aimed at all Belgian or foreign legal experts, regardless of their profession (e.g. lawyers, in house counsels, civil servants, judges, clerks), who – like us – anticipate that the rise of cognitive technology and artificial intelligence is likely to change their future occupation.

Lawyers

Companies

Civil Servants

judges

clerks

FOUNDATORS OF BSC

PHILIPPE LAMBRECHT

President of the BSC, Secretary General, FEB

“The aim is to ensure that the extraordinary potential of AI will be harnessed tomorrow for the benefit of all citizens around the world.”

NICOLAS PETIT

Academic Coordinator ULiege, Professor, University of Liège

“Far from talking theoretically about the future, our AI training seeks to be both specific and practical. AI is no science-fiction scenario but a reality that can be found all around us: on social media, on our smartphones, on music platforms, and so on.”

CHARLES GHEUR

CEO of the BSC, Advisor, Walloon Minister for Economy

“One of the reasons why people join our course is to get on the AI train while it’s still moving at a reasonable speed.”

In partnership with

Brussels School of Competition