AI and Justice (LAWS90248)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5Online
About this subject
Contact information
November
Teaching staff:
Tatiana Cutts (Subject Coordinator)
For current student enquiries, contact the Law School Academic Support Office
Overview
| Availability(Quotas apply) | November - Online |
|---|---|
| Fees | Look up fees |
Algorithms are used by public and private bodies to make decisions that govern our lives in significant ways: our healthcare and social welfare entitlements; our educational achievements, jobs, and pay; whether we are subjected to increased police scrutiny, or sent to prison (and for how long). Those algorithms often draw upon patterns in data about large groups of people to predict the future actions, needs or characteristics of specific persons.
A great deal has been written about the risk of bias and discrimination, understood as the systematic propensity to single out individuals or groups for poor treatment. But what do we really mean when we use those terms? Are there other reasons to worry about predictive algorithms that are not about equality or relative treatment – reasons, for instance, to think that we should not punish people on the basis of facts about their family history or social circumstance?
This subject considers what’s at stake for individuals when we are subjected to automated decisions, and the role that the law plays or can play in helping to ensure that algorithms are not used to create or perpetuate injustices.
Indicative list of principal topics:
- Relevance - What does it mean to make a “good” decision?
- Equality - Why does inequality matter, and how do algorithms fare?
- Choice - How do algorithms affect the control that we have over our lives?
- Transparency - Can we really figure out whether algorithmic decisions are just?
- Privacy - Do algorithms cross the line?
Intended learning outcomes
A student who has successfully completed this subject should be able to:
- Analyse and explain the legal, social-legal, and theoretical context of new technological advances, particularly within the sphere of automated decision-making.
- Use sources appropriately to engage in important debates about the use of algorithms in public and private decision-making.
- Communicate clearly specialised information and concepts relevant to questions of legal theory and doctrine and public policy in the context of automated decision-making.
- Interpret and analyse technical and theoretical information, cutting to the heart of the normative concerns that are prompted by predictive technologies.
- Develop a clear, coherent, rigorous, and well-structured argument, which digs deeply into the moral and legal context of automated decision-making.
Generic skills
- Acquire specialised and interdisciplinary knowledge of how humans make decisions (and whether we are any good at it), how algorithms support those decisions, and how each system fits with legal frameworks that aim to secure individual justice.
- Critically consider the adequacy of legal responses to the challenges raised by the use of algorithms to make and support decisions in the public and private spheres, and questions of legal and regulatory design in multiple jurisdictions.
- Develop the expert and specialised skills necessary to support independent thought and reflection across questions of law, policy, economics, and society as they intersect with predictive algorithms.
- Master technical research skills and communicate specialised information and concepts relevant to questions of legal theory and doctrine, public policy, and commercial practice in the context of artificial decision-making.
Last updated: 4 March 2025
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Recommended background knowledge
Applicants without legal qualifications should note that subjects are taught at an advanced graduate level and requires a thorough background in common law. While efforts are made to meet the needs of students trained in other fields, teaching and assessment activities are designed to give an advanced and integrated understanding of the discipline of law for legal practitioners, learners and researchers.
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 4 March 2025
Assessment
| Description | Timing | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
Class participation and online discussion board contributions | Throughout the teaching period | 15% |
Group in-class presentation
| During the teaching period | 15% |
Research essay on a topic approved by the subject coordinator
| 17 December 2025 | 70% |
| Hurdle requirement: A minimum of 75% attendance is required. | During the teaching period | N/A |
Last updated: 4 March 2025
Quotas apply to this subject
Dates & times
- November - Online
Principal coordinator Tatiana Cutts Mode of delivery Online Contact hours 34 Total time commitment 150 hours Pre teaching start date 13 October 2025 Pre teaching requirements Please refer to Canvas LMS to check on the pre-class readings and preparatory learning activities before the teaching period commences. Teaching period 10 November 2025 to 14 November 2025 Last self-enrol date 17 October 2025 Census date 14 November 2025 Last date to withdraw without fail 19 December 2025 Assessment period ends 23 January 2026 November contact information
Teaching staff:
Tatiana Cutts (Subject Coordinator)
For current student enquiries, contact the Law School Academic Support Office
What do these dates mean
Visit this webpage to find out about these key dates, including how they impact on:
- Your tuition fees, academic transcript and statements.
- And for Commonwealth Supported students, your:
- Student Learning Entitlement. This applies to all students enrolled in a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP).
Subjects withdrawn after the census date (including up to the ‘last day to withdraw without fail’) count toward the Student Learning Entitlement.
Additional delivery details
Please refer to the Melbourne Law Masters enrolment webpage for further information about re-enrolment, subject quotas and waitlists.
Melbourne Law School may reserve places in a subject for incoming international cohorts or where a subject is core to a specialisation with limited alternate options.
Last updated: 4 March 2025
Further information
- Texts
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
- Links to additional information
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Please note Single Subject Studies via Community Access Program is not available to student visa holders or applicants
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
Additional information for this subject
If subject coordinator approval is required, or for further information about Community Access Program study, please contact us
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
Last updated: 4 March 2025