A Study of Business-Techno-Legal Intersection

of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Revolution

Abstract— There is no denying of the fact that Artificial management, scientific or any other related business
Intelligence (AI) has advanced to its critical importance stage
globally, having significant effect across businesses and society function or field of thought.
at large. As part of a larger digital disruption, it is indeed
influencing customers’ experience, public policies, personal It would not be completely wrong, but to say,
security in social space, human interaction with technology, the
way jobs are done, future skills needed etc. Additionally, there considering todays well advanced technological
have been researches and corporate reports in the past that have environment, that AI-based solutions have begun to come
concluded that application and embracing of AI has helped
organizations manage its operations and carry forward its closer, if not exceeded, the human abilities in variety of
strategic planning in a much effective and profitable manner.
Subsequently, considering its wide application, the fact that it real-life tasks. Growing AI technologies are not just
touches everyday lives of people and its probable adverse fuelling current industries, as the likes of web search, high-
consequences if not executed/planned right (as opined by experts
in the field), it is of much value and reason that organizations speed trading and e-commerce, but are also contributing in
and governments start contemplating on developing an
appropriate technology infrastructure, identifying possible & developing different novel industries around concepts like
feasible business application and weaving a regulatory internet of things (IoT), augmented reality, biotechnology
framework around application and adoption of AI. The present
research is an attempt to study the challenges of the business- and autonomous vehicles.
techno-legal intersection that application of AI brings forth and
recommending what needed to be done by corporations and AI has been influencing regular lives of individuals
governments, while balancing these fundamental requirements
for sailing through and availing the best of the technology too, and in a manner that improve human health, safety,
revolution, specifically driven by advancement in the field of
and productivity. As a matter of fact, innovative &
artificial intelligence.
constructive AI applications in educational institutions,
Keywords— Artificial Intelligence, AI Revolution,
Technology Revolution homes, offices, and hospitals are already emerging at an
augmented pace. To further the technological
Introduction
advancements in the field and capitalize on the scope and
From its conception years in the early 1960s, artificial
potential application areas of AI, established research
intelligence (AI) has advanced from a discipline, which
institutions including universities like Columbia
imagined emulating human intelligence, to a much 1 2
University , University of Alberta , The University of
broader applicable engineering discipline which combines
Texas at Austin3 etc. are dedicating departments to study
algorithms, data and technology and that focuses on
trends and developments in AI, and technology
machine learning concepts and enabling software to solve
corporations like Apple4, Amazon, Facebook5, Google6,
a variety of pattern recognition, learning and decision
IBM7, Microsoft8 etc. spending generously to expand and
making problems in a manner akin to human intelligence.
uncover application of AI which they consider as
Progressively, adoption and application of AI (as part of a
important and crucial to their futures.
larger digital disruption) is getting looked at as a
horizontal practice in corporate world that cut across
various business verticals falling in engineering, Given such a wide scope and expanse of application,
it is but reasonable and pertinent to examine the key issues

1 5
https://www.cs.columbia.edu/areas/ai/ https://research.fb.com/category/facebook-ai-research-fair/
2 6
https://www.ualberta.ca/computing-science/research/research- https://ai.google/
areas/artificial-intelligence 7
https://www.ibm.com/watson/
3 8
https://www.cs.utexas.edu/research/areas/artificial-intelligence https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/ai
4
https://machinelearning.apple.com/
 and challenges that can prove to be critical enough to Bellman, 1978 “[The automation of] activities that we
associate with human thinking, activities
either ‘make it’ or ‘break it’ for many organizations, such as decision-making, problem
solving, learning…” [2]
societies and even nations while going for adopting AI in Haugeland, 1985 “The exciting new effort to make
computers think…machines with minds,
its true potential. It is therefore, the present study, intends in the full and literal sense” [3]
Charniak & Mc Dermott, “The Study of mental faculties through
to build upon the belief that balancing the close 1985 the use of computational methods” [4]
intersection of technological, business and legal aspects is Kurzwell, 1990 “The art of creating machines that
performs functions that require
utmost essential and necessary to successfully and intelligence when performed by people”
[5]
efficiently embrace and leverage AI. Rich & Knight, 1991 “The study of how to make computers do
things at which, at the moment, people
are better” [6]
Schalkoff, 1990 “A field of study that seeks to explain and
emulate intelligent behavior in terms of
DEFINING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE computational processes” [7]
Winston, 1992 “The study of the computations that make
Various researches in the past have studied and it possible to perceive, reason and act” [8]
Luger & Stubblefield, “The branch of computer science that is
defined Artificial Intelligence (AI) in context of their 1993 concerned with the automation of
intelligent behavior” [9]
studies. Table I provides some of the key definitions. D.W. Patterson, 1990 A branch of the computer science
concerned with the study and the creation
of the computer systems that exhibits
In essence, such definitions have organized AI into four some of the intelligence: Systems that
learn the new concepts and the tasks, that
categories [1]; can reason and also draw the useful
conclusion about the world around us,
that can understand the various natural
I. Systems that think like humans
languages and perceive and comprehend
a visual scene and the systems that
II. Systems that act like humans perform the other types of the feats that
essentially require the human type of
III. Systems that think rationally intelligence” [10]

Source: Developed by Researcher

IV. Systems that act rationally
Additionally, Figure I shows the different branches of BUSINESS-TECHNOLOGICAL-LEGAL INTERSECTION
AI.
Any technology, including the advent of computers &
FIGURE I: DIFFERENT BRANCHES OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)
IT that has the potential of changing future of individuals,
organizations, societies or even countries needs to be
handled with utmost care and vigil. The case of AI
revolution that the world is witnessing is no different. In
fact, the revolution warrants for alert corporations and
countries to provide suitable infrastructure and regulatory
support to thrive and succeed. However, there has been no
study in the past, to the best of researcher’s knowledge
that has dealt with all these aspects/issues in one study.
Further, no empirical evidence is available in the literature
that examines any such intersection while embracing AI
at organizational or national level. This study is an attempt
to understand some of the key issues within the respective
Source: http://legalexecutiveinstitute.com/artificial-intelligence-in-law-the-state-of-play-2016- business, technological and legal frameworks that needs
part-1/
to be addressed or work upon for successful adoption of
AI.
TABLE I: KEY DEFINITONS OF AI
Author and Year Definition 1) Business Opportunities & Challenges
 Artificial Intelligence (AI) is considered as a
horizontal phenomenon that cut across any business
function and therefore has the potential to significantly
influence almost all business functions and industries. Fig
II illustrate various industry that foresee AI to play big role
in their operations in coming five years.

FIGURE II: EXPECTATION OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ADOPTION

ACROSS INDUSTRIES

Source: S. Ransbotham, D. Kiron, P. Gerbert, and M. Reeves, “Reshaping

Business With Artificial Intelligence,” MIT Sloan Management Review and
The Boston Consulting Group, September 2017

It can be concluded from Fig. III that integrating the

Source: S. Ransbotham, D. Kiron, P. Gerbert, and M. Reeves,
“Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence,” MIT Sloan
Management Review and The Boston Consulting Group, September
2017.
In a study conducted on 3000 executives, more than
80% of organizations see AI as a strategic opportunity,
while almost 40% see it as a strategic risks (Ransbotham
et al., 2017). In the same study, on being asked the top
three barriers for effective adoption of AI, following is the
response summary, as contained in Fig. III.
capabilities of humans and machines is a looming issue.
Also, the challenges for established players (pioneers) are
different from that of companies that have joined late the
revolution and are thus lagging behind. For established
players, acquiring and developing requisite AI talent
remains the biggest challenge followed by identifying
competing investment priorities. Whereas new entrants,
are yet to have the clarity on the scope of AI application
within their organization. They do not have a strong
leadership in terms of people who understand the
opportunity and can drive the organization home by
quickly responding to business requirements in the light
of AI revolution.
KPMG 9 , in one of its reports titled “Intelligent
Economy” released in October 2017, came out with Lack
of clear vision, legacy infrastructure, cyber security,
shortage of digital talent and outdated operating model as
key challenges to AI adoption in organizations.

FIGURE III: BARRIERS TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ADOPTION IN

ORGANIZATIONS

9 financial services sector in India while serving a number of market leaders

KPMG was established in India in September 1993. KPMG has a client
base of over 2700 companies. The firm's global approach to service delivery in other industry segments.
helps provide value-added services to clients. The firm serves leading
information technology companies and has a strong presence in the
 Clearly, it is evident that organization needs to not just FIGURE IV: A MAPPING FROM TRENDS TO CHALLENGES AND RESEARCH
TOPICS
be aware of the scope of application of AI, but at the same
time must be working hard on developing or acquiring the
required skill set for embracing such application.
Organizations also need to up their ante in terms of
technological advancements and replacing older operating
models to leverage this one of the latest stream of digital
disruption.

2) Technological Opportunities & Challenges

AI – particularly the machine learning and deep
learning strategies which demonstrate the most guarantee,
require a colossal number of estimations to be made
rapidly. This implies they utilize a great deal of handling
power. Cloud computing and enormously parallel Source: http://www2.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/TechRpts/2017/EECS-2017-
159.html
preparing frameworks are what have given the appropriate
response for the time being. Be that as it may, as
3) Legal/Regulatory Challenges for AI adoption
information volumes proceed to develop, and profound
The ascent of AI has so far happened in an
learning drives the computerized making of progressively
administrative vacuum. Except for a hardly any states'
complex calculations, the bottleneck will keep on slowing
enactment with respect to self-driving vehicles and
progress.
automatons, not very many laws or controls exist that
Further, technological challenges of AI adoption can particularly address the exceptional challenges raised by
be understood from a multiple standpoint comprising of
AI, and practically no courts seem to have created
how AI will act in dynamic environment, how secure will guidelines particularly tending to who ought to be held
AI needs to be and what kind of technological architecture lawfully dependable if an AI causes hurt. There is a
does AI need. The respective challenges under these three comparative shortage of legitimate grant talking about
broad heads were outlined in a research carried by potential administrative ways to deal with AI [11]
Berkeley University while releasing one of their
Figure V provide details on some of the regulatory
technology report10 and are provided below in Fig. IV;
problems faced because of AI adoption.
The appropriate response is probably going to lie in the
improvement of the up and coming age of registering
foundation, for example, quantum processing, which
outfits subatomic marvels, for example, snare to complete
operations on information significantly more rapidly than
the present PCs.

10
Technical Report No. UCB/EECS-2017-159,
http://www2.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/TechRpts/2017/EECS-2017- 159.html,
October 16, 2017
 FIGURE V: THE REGULATORY PROBLEMS OF ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE
Source: Matthew U. Scherer, (2016). Regulating Artificial Intelligence
Systems: Risks, Challenges, Competencies and Strategies, Harvard
Journal of Law & Technology, Volume 29, Number 2
Some of these difficulties are calculated, for example,
how to characterize artificial intelligence and how to dole
out moral and lawful obligation when AI frameworks
cause hurt. Other challenges are common sense, including
the inborn troubles in controlling the activities of self-
governing machines, which may render ex post regulation
ineffectual; the related hazard that AI frameworks will
perform activities that are unforeseeable to their
originators and administrators; what's more, the potential
for AI to be produced so furtively or diffusely as to render
successful ex ante regulation impracticable.
CONCLUSION
The present research has studied adoption of AI and
the related issues from business, technological and legal
standpoints. The study further postulates that adoption of
AI must be looked at from these three lenses for it to be
successfully embraced and leveraged. Further, it must be
noted that the value that application of AI creates for
human lives is among its key success measures.
Considering this, an environment around adoption of AI
must be created that facilitates individuals to understand
AI arrangements effectively, take active participation in
its usage, and build their trust. Formulation of public
policy around AI can actually help integrate these
components of business environment in a manner most
beneficial to businesses, societies and countries at large.
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