EU Digital Law in the AI Era

This volume examines the transformative impact of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the legal landscape of the European Union, addressing the need to revisit and refine regulatory instruments developed over the past thirty years. By situating emergent scholarly debates within established doctrinal frameworks, the present work elucidates how EU and Member State authorities have adapted—sometimes unevenly—to the challenges posed by AI applications in areas as diverse as liability, data protection, intellectual property and cyber-security.

The ensuing chapters are organized into five thematic parts, each comprising contributions from leading experts who adopt a critical and comparative perspective. Part I, “AI Law,” opens with a rigorous analysis of defective product liability as applied to autonomous systems, proceeds to assess the interplay between the Platform Work Directive and the forthcoming AI Act in regulating algorithmic management, and concludes with a proposal for a maturity-based approach to privacy safeguarding. Part II, “Data Protection,” addresses the evolution of the EU’s GDPR jurisprudence in the age of machine learning, followed by an exploration of informational self-determination within the design and operation of smart-city ecosystems.

Part III, “Copyright and Digital Interactions,” critically engages with the tension between the EU’s right of communication to the public and creative expression, investigates the adequacy of existing IP regimes for AI-generated works, and reflects on the role of usage data as remuneration under Directive 2019/790. Part IV, “Consumer Protection in the Digital Era,” examines how the Unfair Contract Terms Directive might be retooled to shield consumers from AI-driven exploitation, and offers a preliminary reading of the proposed AI Liability Directive from a consumer-rights perspective. Finally, Part V, “Online Legal Enforcement and Cyber-Security,” provides a doctrinal appraisal of lawful interception regimes, a critical review of e-Evidence mechanisms in criminal proceedings, and a timely assessment of large-language models’ implications for cyber-resilience.

By weaving together doctrinal analysis, case law critique and policy reflection, this volume furnishes scholars, practitioners and policymakers with a coherent, academically grounded roadmap for navigating the evolving contours of EU digital law in the AI era. Each chapter contributes to an integrated understanding of how legal orders can maintain fundamental safeguards while enabling responsible innovation, offering practitioners, scholars and policymakers the insights necessary to navigate and shape future developments.