Generative AI: Exploring Regulatory Opportunities, Challenges and Dilemmas

International Symposium - Technologies, Law and Society Research Group,

Wednesday 18 June 2025, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

Symposium Objectives
Programme
Venue
Reservations and Enquiries

Symposium Objectives

Founded in 1740, Trinity College Dublin’s School of Law, is one of the leading Law Schools in Europe. The Technologies, Law and Society Group in the School of Law is organising a one-day symposium, exploring the regulatory opportunities and challenges posed by the rapid emergence and expansion of Generative AI.

Generative AI, capable of complex problem solving as well as creating new content and ideas, brings unparalleled opportunities. However, it also poses significant ethical, legal, and regulatory challenges, which transcend national boundaries. Lawyers’ (and Judges’) much publicised use of Generative AI models such as ChatGPT to summarise cases, inspire arguments, or aid legal decision-making, are controversial practices capable of recalibrating the foundations of legal systems around the globe. These potentially transformative tools give rise to new issues which hold significance, not just for lawyers, but for private parties, the creative sector, governments, regulators, policymakers, and courts, all of whom are tasked with answering the ethical and logistical questions posed by Generative AI. Contributors to the symposium will consider the role of law and regulation in harnessing the benefits offered by Generative AI, as well as mitigating the dangers it poses.

Paper Topics

Papers for this symposium on Generative AI: Exploring Regulatory Opportunities, Challenges and Dilemmas are invited on a broad range of topics relating to generative AI and its regulation including examination of the potential impact of generative AI on any field of law. International and comparative perspectives are welcomed. Sample topics broadly include, but are not limited to:

Ethical issues surrounding Generative AI;
Legislative efforts/Codes of Practice and Standards to date - The EU AI Act/GDPR;
Regulating the use of Generative AI in legal practice;
Regulatory responses to the “black box” issue;
Generative AI in the context of financial services law;
Generative AI and corporate governance;
Competition law issues concerning AI and algorithms;
Generative AI and judicial decision-making;
Generative AI, intellectual property and the Arts;
Liability and accountability frameworks for Generative AI;
Generative AI and Defamation

Symposium Programme

9.15 - 9.45	Registration and Coffee
9.50	Opening Remarks Professor Deirdre Ahern, Director of the Technologies, Law & Society Research Group, School of Law, Trinity College Dublin
10.00	Plenary Panel 1: Gen AI and Creative Outputs Dr Anthony O’Dwyer, South East Technological University - Generative AI, Intellectual Property and the Arts Professor Eoin O’Dell, Trinity College Dublin - *Does Star Trek’s Mr Data hold Copyright in his “Ode to Spot”? Should he? What now and where next for Copyright and AI in the EU and the US?* Professor Jerome De Cooman, University of Liege, Belgium - In Praise of Authentication: The Case of Article 50(2) EU AI Act, Its Rule or Origin and Exception for Substantial Alteration
11.00	Plenary Panel 2: Gen AI and EU AI Act Interactions Ms Tara Kerins Alymer, PhD student, Trinity College Dublin - A Critique on Transparency as a Core Principle of AI Regulation Mr Shaun Feakins, PhD student, University of York, UK - Making a Safety Case: The EU AI Act, Documentation Requirements for GPAI and Lessons From Safety Assurance
11.40	Tea / Coffee Break
12.00	Parallel Sessions: 2 Papers Each Gen AI and GDPR Dr Harshvardhan Pandit and Dr Abeba Birhane, AI Accountability Lab, Trinity College Dublin - Questioning the Legitimacy of GenAI Models under GDPR and its Implications on the Enforcement of the AI Act Mr Nixon Logue, PhD student, Trinity College Dublin - The ‘Right to be Forgotten’ in the Age of Generative AI Gen AI, EU Regulatory Policy and Compliance Chair: Professor Deirdre Ahern, Trinity College Dublin Dr Mina Hosseini, UCD Sutherland School of Law - Generative AI, Pharmaceuticals, and Competition: A Strategic Shift for EU Regulatory Policy Ms Lucia della Ventura, PhD student, Trinity College Dublin - Generative AI for Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation Compliance: Opportunities and Challenges for Crypto-Asset Service Providers
12.50	Lunch
13.50	Gen AI and Labour Markets Chair: Professor Deirdre Ahern, Trinity College Dublin Dr Marta Lasek-Markey, Research Fellow, ADAPT Centre, Trinity College Dublin - On The Right to Work: How Generative AI And Automation will Reshape the Employment Relationship
14.15	Plenary Panel 3: Gen AI and the Courts Ms Christine Carter, PhD student, Churchill College, University of Cambridge - From Precedent to Pattern: Can Generative AI Replicate Doctrinal Evolution? Mr Christopher Greene, PhD student, Trinity College Dublin - Trust and Acceptance of AI Legal Decision-making Technologies in Court Systems via Explainable AI (XAI) Principles Professor Brian Barry, Trinity College Dublin - Measuring Perceptions of AI for Judicial Systems
15.15	Plenary Panel 4: Confronting the Abyss Dr Lorraine Boran, Ms Lorna Gurren, PhD student and Dr Darragh Cashin School of Psychology, Dublin City University - SARAH-TED Socially Assistive Robotics and AI in Healthcare: Trust, Transparency, and Ethical Design Professor Christina Mulligan, Brooklyn Law School - Revenge Against Robots Dr Béatrice Schütte, University of Lapland, Finland - Towards Minimizing the Environmental Impact of Generative AI: Sustainability by Design and by Default? Mr Narayan Toolan, Legal Futurist and Earth-Advocate - An Ecological/Earth Law Response to Artificial Intelligence
16.25 - 16.30	Closing remarks by Chair

About the Technologies, Law and Society Research Group

The Technologies, Law and Society Research Group at the School of Law Trinity College Dublin brings together PhD, postdoctoral fellows, academic researchers and visiting researchers in the School of Law working on issues at the intersection of law and technology. This includes research in the areas of information technology law, intellectual property law, health and medical law, bioethics, data protection, privacy, and security of information. TLS is also interested in the appropriate regulation of new, emerging, and disruptive technologies (including FinTech, direct-to-consumer genetic tests, wearable technology, Internet of Things, reproductive technologies and AI) as well as the ethical and liability issues raised by new technologies such as AI and quantum technologies and their societal impact and governance challenges.

Symposium Venue

The symposium will take place on Wednesday 18 June 2025 at Trinity Long Room Hub, Trinity College Dublin. Trinity College Dublin was established in 1592 and its historic campus is situated in the heart of Dublin city centre within easy access from Dublin airport.