The Justice Department named its first-ever official focused on artificial intelligence (AI) on Thursday in anticipation of the rapidly evolving technology's impact on the criminal justice system. Jonathan Mayer, a professor at Princeton University who focuses on the "intersection of technology and law, with emphasis on national security, criminal procedure, consumer privacy, network management, and online speech," according to his online biography, was selected to serve as the DOJ's chief science and technology adviser and chief AI officer, Reuters reported. "The Justice Department must keep pace with rapidly evolving scientific and technological developments in order to fulfill our mission to uphold the rule of law, keep our country safe and protect civil rights," U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. Mayer previously served as the technology adviser to Vice President Kamala Harris during her time as a U.S. senator, and as the Chief Technologist of the Federal Communications Commission Enforcement Bureau. In his new role, he is expected to advise Garland and DOJ leadership on matters related to emerging technologies, including how to responsibly integrate AI into the department's investigations and criminal prosecutions, according to Reuters.

A top technology adviser to the judiciary has proposed the creation of a new institute of legal innovation that would spot gaps in the law thrown up by technologies such as crypto assets and AI, and promote the greater use of English law in global business contracts. Professor Richard Susskind, technology adviser to the Lord Chief Justice and a director of think-tank LegalUK, believes an independent body, along the lines of the Alan Turing Institute, which pioneers research into artificial intelligence, would highlight areas of law that had failed to keep up with innovation. The institute would also promote English law to global companies as the law of choice to govern transactions in new areas such as blockchain. The proposal comes as some lawyers are concerned that England's legal sector, which employs 365,000 people, could lose out to rival centres such as Singapore and Dubai if its legislation fails to keep pace with advancing tech.