Novel Beings

Regulatory Approaches for a Future of New Intelligent Life

Edited by David R. Lawrence, Durham Law School, Durham University and Sarah Morley, Newcastle Law School, Newcastle University, UK

Novel Beings is a forward-looking exploration into the divide between proactive and reactive regulatory approaches to the cross-section of biotechnology and artificial intelligence (AI) research. Addressing an innovative area of academic study, Novel Beings questions how this research, which has the potential to create new forms of morally valuable life, could be regulated.

‘As technologies lead inexorably to the creation of intelligent beings, the need to find practical solutions to questions of moral value, status, and resulting obligations becomes increasingly urgent. This important collection depicts challenges and marks a significant advancement in the field of biolaw in its articulation of potential proactive and reactive regulatory solutions.’
– Emma G. Cave, Durham University, UK

‘I warmly welcome this exciting new book on how the law, ethics and regulation can respond to the challenges of “novel beings” from biotechnology to artificial intelligence. This is an excellent group of leading scholars in law and ethics, with exciting new insights into emerging technologies.’
– Richard Ashcroft, City, University of London, UK