On August 30, 2019, the Youth Rule of Law Forum, World Artificial Intelligence 2019 was held at Shanghai University of Political Science and Law. Bao Xiaoli and Bai Zhihui, Doctoral Candidate of the Law School and researchers of the Renmin Law and Technology Institute of Renmin University of China, attended the forum. Together with young legal scholars from various countries and regions across the globe, they engaged in in-depth and lively exchanges and discussions centering on the theme of artificial intelligence and the responsibilities of young generations.

      Doctoral Candidate Bao Xiaoli delivered a keynote speech entitled The Road to Autonomous Driving: The Contemporary Mission of Young Legal Scholars. First of all, Bao pointed out that we are living in the best of times, an era witnessing an explosive surge in technological dividends. Meanwhile, it is also the worst of times, as the established social governance systems are subjected to tremendous shocks. To live up to General Secretary Xi Jinping’s earnest expectations and requirements for young people, young legal scholars shoulder the mission of putting forward timely, contextually grounded and interpretively powerful legal responses to the challenges that technological transformation poses to the law. Secondly, the collaborative governance mindset plays an essential role in this endeavor. Young legal scholars ought to carry out interdisciplinary communication and knowledge integration with young researchers specializing in technology, philosophy and other relevant disciplines, pooling collective wisdom to jointly tackle the challenges of the times. Lastly, she mentioned that autonomous driving represents a key sector in the age of artificial intelligence. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Science and Technology have jointly issued the Medium- and Long-Term Development Plan for the Automotive Industry, which calls for accelerating the construction of a legal and regulatory system for intelligent connected vehicles. Meanwhile, taking civil liability for traffic accidents involving autonomous vehicles as an example, she demonstrated the practical efforts made by young legal scholars to shoulder their historical responsibilities from four perspectives: the definition and classification of autonomous driving, the legal nature of autonomous vehicles, the formulation of standardized and objective road traffic rules, and the liability framework for accidents caused by autonomous driving.

      Doctoral Candidate Bai Zhihui exchanged and interacted with participating young legal scholars on issues concerning artificial intelligence ethics and the rule of law.

      The forum released the Initiative on Youth Responsibilities in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. It aims to further raise the awareness of young students worldwide regarding the rule of law governing artificial intelligence, so that young people can better fulfill their responsibilities in the artificial intelligence era.

Editor:Xu Liuya

Reviewer: Zhu Peiwen