? Welcome to the MOOC on law and artificial intelligence by London Universities, Faculty of Law. In this course, we aim to introduce you to the way in which the increasing use of artificially intelligent technologies affects the theory and practice of law. Throughout the course, we showcase the potential benefits of using AI and we also problematize the potential risks of using AI in illegal contexts. With respect to the benefits, we explore how AI can be used in legal practice, how AI can be employed to optimize existing legal processes and how it can even allow law to be used in previously impossible ways. We investigate these benefits both in the private sector with respect to companies for example and in the public sector with respect to the public healthcare authorities for instance. With respect to the potential risks of using AI in the legal context, the course also aims to raise awareness of the wider social ethical implications of using AI. In this regard, we ask, does it make a difference if a legally significant decision is taken by a digital entity or by a human person? Are the characteristics of AI such that some questions should not be delegated to AI?. How should questions of legal responsibility and of legal attributability be conceptualized in the digital context? We discuss these questions across four-course modules. The first module introduces you to the field of AI in law, in principle and explores the legal significance of AI software and AI hardware. The second module introduces you to the use of AI in public sector, in particular, in the context of criminal law, administrative law and legal theory. The third module focus on AI in the private sector. Here, we'll look at the use of AI in the financial services industry for example, an intellectual property law. The final and fourth module considers the impact of the use of AI on a few selected legal areas including health law, competition law and labor law. Overall, we hope that this course will equip you with a foundational understanding of the relationship between law and artificial intelligence so that you are able to assess how you might individually benefit from the use of AI in the legal context. With that in mind, you are now invited to move on directly to the first module on the software and hardware dimensions of AI in the legal context.