Algorithmic Dreams Meet Competition Law and Regulation: Promoting Responsible Innovation

A workshop organized by Ioannis Lianos & Nicolo Zingales

About the workshop

The rise of new technologies has always challenged competition law enforcement, starting with the expansion of railways, the development of mobile and wireless telecom networks, digital computing, and most recently AI. As the fourth industrial revolution unveils, fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds, we witness once-in-a-lifetime changes in our economic, social and political systems. From the “artificial dreams” of the precursors of non-biologic intelligence like Turing, we are witness to the “coming wave” of technological transformation generated by generative AI and large language models (LLMs), greater automation via extensive use of robots, and quantum computing. This technological (r)evolution gives rise to the emergence of artificial phenomena that are for the time being to be categorised and assessed according to the traditional scientific/disciplinary framework(s) developed to engage with the natural world . These developments are however expected to lead to the emergence of “synthetic” systems and worlds in which humans may not be in the driving seat, raising the (for some) dreadful potentiality of a “life post-anthropocene”.

Focusing on the digital and AI technological and business revolutions, the workshop will explore the challenge for competition law and regulation of supporting the dynamic pace of industrial and economic transformation driven by these technological breakthroughs while ensuring that such innovation remains “responsible”. The concept of “responsible innovation” aims to limit the asymmetric power of some actors and provide a broader societal framework to “guide” the process of innovation towards socially valuable goals. It includes four dimensions: anticipation (strategic foresight), reflexivity (by embedding social scientists and the legal profession in the innovation process and developing ethical tech assessment and codes of conduct or moratoria for high-risk innovation), inclusion (by engaging with tools of democratic innovation governance and promoting open innovation, thus including more economic actors in the innovation process), and responsiveness (through a greater role for regulation, the development of standards, open access or softly influencing the direction of the innovation process towards SDGs).

The workshop aims to explore how the current debates on antitrust law enforcement and regulation in digital ecosystems, digital health, and AI cater for these “responsible innovation” concerns and how legal “code” may direct the process of innovation towards goals compatible with the social contract in each jurisdiction.

Workshop Participants (confirmed)

• Francisco Aguero Professor, University of Chile Law School
• Pedro Isaac Alcalá, Head of Digital Markets, COFECE
• Camila Pires Alves, Commissioner, CADE
• Estela Aranha, Special advisor on AI and digital to the Presidency of the Republic of Brazil
• Gustavo Augusto, Commissioner, CADE
• Cristina Caffarra, Honorary Professor, UCL Faculty of Laws
• Bruno Carballa, Research Officer, EU Joint Research Centre
• Çağrı Çavuş, Competition Policy Researcher, SOMO
• Vitor Barbosa, Chief of Staff, CADE
• Luca Belli, Professor, FGV Law School in Rio de Janeiro
• Elettra Bietti, Assistant Professor, Northeastern University Law School
• Paulo Henrique De Oliveira, Chief of Staff, CADE
• Nick Economides, Professor, NYU Business School
• Silvia Fagá, Director, ECOA
• Paola Farani, Director of Competition Policy LatAm, Meta
• Victor Fernandes, Commissioner, CADE
• Vera Franz, Honorary Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Laws, UCL
• Michal Gal, Professor, University of Haifa Law Schol
• James Görgen, Digital Markets Coordinator at the Ministry of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services
• Hariprasad Govinda, Principal Economist, Competition Commission of South Africa
• Juan David Gutierrez, Associate Professor, Universidade de Los Andes
• Marina Haddad Tovolli, LCA Consultancy
• Alexey Ivanov, Director, BRICS Competition Law & Policy Centre
• Carlos Jaques, Commissioner, CADE
• Paulo José Lara, Director, Article 19 Brazil
• Ettore Lombardi, University of Florence Law School
• Lilian Marques, Chief Economist, СADE
• Timo Minssen,  Professor, Director of the Center for Advanced Studies in Bioscience Innovation Law (CeBIL), University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Law
• Vikas Kathuria,  Professor, BML Munjal School of Law
• Mats Koster, Professor, Central European University Law School
• Caio Mario Pereira Neto, Professor, FGV Law School São Paulo
• Stavros Makris, Senior Lecturer, UCL Faculty of Laws
• Fernanda Lopes Martins, Researcher, FGV Law school
• John Newman, Professor, University of Miami Law School
• Andres Palacios Lleras, Professor, Universidad de Rosario Law School, Colombia
• Raissa Paixão, Researcher, FGV Law School, São Paulo
• Eduardo Pontual, Professor, Department of Economics,  Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
• Marcos Puccioni Lyra, Professor, Department of Economics Universade Federal Fluminense
• Bruno Renzetti, Chief of Staff, CADE
• Felipe Roquete, General Coordinator of Antitrust Analysis, CADE
• Priscilla Ruiz, Legal Officer, Article 19 Mexico
• Arthur Sadami, Researcher, FGV Law school in Rio de Janeiro & São Paulo
• Howard Shelanski, Professor, Georgetown University Law School
• Marcus Silveira de Sá, Coordinartor of Antitrust Analysis, CADE
• Marina Siqueira, Telecommunications and Digital Rights Lawyer, IDEC
• Michael Veale, Associate Professor of Digital Rights and Regulation, UCL Faculty of Laws
• Isabel Veloso, Professor, FGV Law School in Rio de Janeiro
• André Vellozo, CEO, DrumWave
• Nicolo Zingales, Professor, FGV Law School, Rio de Janeiro

Valentine Korah Laws Memorial Fund

The Valentine Korah Laws Memorial Fund honours the memory of a much loved exceptional scholar and advocate. Explore the opportunities that we believe best honour the spirit Valentine Korah embodied, and the legacy she left at UCL Laws. The new fund will:

• support the Valentine Korah Scholarship
• support an annual Valentine Korah Prize in competition law for undergraduates
• support a Valentine Korah Collaboration Space in Bentham House
• support an annual Valentine Korah Lecture
• support the creation of academic positions in competition law or policy

View full details of the opportunities available and how to donate can be found at:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/remembering-professor-valentine-korah