On 26-27 September 2025, the Centre for Legal Innovation and Digital Society (CLINDS) at CUHK LAW hosted the conference “Legal Responses to the Existential Threat Posed by Artificial Intelligence.” This event brought together a distinguished assembly of scholars and practitioners from an array of legal disciplines and jurisdictions, all of whom gathered to critically examine the profound existential risks that artificial intelligence may pose to society. Over the course of the conference, participants engaged in rigorous discussion and thoughtful analysis, exploring a spectrum of potential legal and policy responses to the challenges presented by the rapid development of AI technologies.

Speakers offered interdisciplinary perspectives by approaching the topic through the prisms of legal theory, environmental law, human rights law, public international law, technology governance, and geopolitics. Deliberations addressed practicable governance mechanisms within a variety of legal frameworks, with particular attention accorded to matters such as international obligations and cooperation, the application of the precautionary principle, risk-based regulatory models, and the safeguarding of fundamental rights through enhanced public and civil accountability.

The conference was honoured to host eminent speakers from a diverse set of jurisdictions, including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, mainland China, Denmark, Germany, Hong Kong, Macao, Poland, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Singapore. CUHK LAW was well represented by Professors Anatole Boute, Sandra Marco Colino, Bryan Druzin, Stuart Hargreaves, Jyh-An Lee, Eliza Mik, Michael Ramsden, and Normann Witzleb, who contributed as speakers and moderators. The proceedings concluded with a session dedicated to reflective dialogue and open discussion, culminating in closing remarks graciously delivered by Dean Chao Xi.