LAW
Discussion – Alex Craig joined the expert panel at a Tees Business LIVE event, discussing the opportunities and legal challenges surrounding artificial intelligence.
The focus for Alex is often on supporting ambitious, growing enterprises that are navigating complex technological transitions without the safety net of an inhouse legal department.
“ In my team, we do a lot of work with growing businesses of different sizes, often in the tech sphere,” she says.
“ The majority of work done in my team is in supporting the owner-managed business that is on a growth trajectory, where they have often compiled their key documents without any legal input.
“ They are on a trajectory where they are looking for investment, wanting more people involved and they want their house in order.
“ But they are not big enough to warrant a legal team, so they need a team to help with procedures and contracts. Quite often, on Teesside, that relates to tech in some way. That is an audience we want to know we are around to support.”
The biggest risk for these businesses isn’ t using AI – it is using it without understanding the legal implications.
The practical, day-to-day realities of adopting AI are already generating a wide array of legal and commercial challenges for Muckle’ s clients.
“ We are being asked to do work for businesses regarding contract terms. Their clients are saying,‘ We want you to use AI,’ and then the businesses are not sure how to reflect that in their contracts,” Alex said.
In some cases, the integration of AI touches directly on employment law and data privacy.
Alex added:“ We have had businesses talking to us who have been approached to support AI tech business in training their models which requires consideration of employment arrangements, IP ownership, data protection and general good practice”.
Intellectual property( IP) is another major hurdle. Alex points to scenarios where a new piece of technology is developed by a cohort of staff during their employment, who then attempt to use it for their own gain rather than the organisation’ s.
“ You need to dig into the legal position from an employee and employer relationship,” she said.
There is also the defensive side of the tech coin, particularly concerning data protection and freedom of information( FOI). Businesses are increasingly facing automated, AI-generated complaints from customers.
Alex said:“ We are seeing a substantial increase in the use of AI by organisational customers who are aggrieved. They will make a complaint regardless of the sector, and it will be AI-generated.
“ The organisation still has to respond, even though AI has formulated these extensive requests of which much of it is not relevant. The amount of time and money it is costing is significant.
“ You have to try to manage the legal obligations before it ends up in a court or tribunal, dealing with stuff generated by AI where there is little continuity because the prompts have been put in with little context.
“ Teams are stressed because of it. The range of work we are doing because of the development of AI is wide-ranging.”
However, for every challenge, there is a strategic opportunity. The key is addressing the governance before the technology is fully deployed.
AI and developing tech are here to stay, and the smartest move business leaders can make is to talk to their advisers and their network early in the process.
“ Those are the negatives, but then there are the positives,” Alex said.“ We are having conversations where businesses are at the start of their journey looking to adopt AI and technology, wanting to talk to us about training and governance.
“ It is a strategic decision-making process that can help a business in terms of its overall journey and strategy.”
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