This book approaches Artificial Intelligence not as a futuristic idea or an abstract technological problem, but as a governance challenge that legal systems are already required to manage. Artificial intelligence is treated here as a set of tools and systems that shape how power is exercised, decisions are made, and responsibilities are allocated within existing legal institutions.
The starting point of the book is that AI does not operate in a legal vacuum. Whether AI is used by governments, courts, corporations, platforms, or professionals, it functions within established structures of law. Constitutional guarantees, tort principles, contract doctrine, labour protections, criminal procedure, and arbitration rules continue to apply. The central question is therefore not whether the law is relevant to AI, but how existing legal principles must be applied, adapted, and enforced when decisions are influenced or assisted by automated systems.
The approach of the book is practical and institution-focused. Rather than speculating about future technologies, the chapters examine how AI is already being used in real settings. Legal analysis is grounded in statutes, case law, regulatory frameworks, and emerging judicial practice.
Comparative Law is used throughout the book as a practical tool. Jurisdictions such as India, the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, are discussed to understand how different legal systems respond to similar challenges. These comparisons are used to understand different legal approaches and to identify legal techniques, safeguards, and limits that have been adopted in response to AI-driven decision-making.
A consistent theme of the book is that efficiency cannot displace legality. The use of AI may improve speed, scale, or consistency, but it does not dilute requirements of fairness, due process, proportionality, reasoned decision-making, or judicial review. When AI is introduced institutions must ensure that legal and constitutional standards are fully respected.
The book also adopts a conscious Global South perspective, particularly in its treatment of state capacity, digital public infrastructure, welfare delivery, and development policy. This perspective recognises that AI governance challenges differ across jurisdictions, especially where public systems operate at population scale and where institutional resources vary.
