Jaspal Kaur Sadhu Singh, PhD (Aberystwyth) 

Jaspal’s current research interest is in legal and ethical debates involving AI governance including technology law-related challenges perambulating free speech and expression. Her teaching focuses on ICT & E-commerce Law and Data Governance Law and delivers the AI Governance: Law and Policy module offered on the LLM programme at the University.

She is a subject matter expert invited to participate in the National Data Sharing Policy by the Ministry of Communications & Digital Economy and the AI National Roadmap on the AI Governance and Ethics Working Committee at the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. She is currently carrying out a landscape study of the Pro-Innovation to AI Regulation White Paper published by the Department of Science, Technology & Innovation (UK) in March 2023 and is a member of a group of experts writing up the AI ethical framework for Malaysia.

Drawing from her extensive knowledge of the legal and ethical AI landscape, Jaspal is able to assist businesses that are developing and deploying AI tools in creating assessment strategies as part of a regulatory sandbox in meeting the rigours of a Trustworthy and Responsible AI. With the increasing ubiquity and maturity of AI tools, alongside concerns of risks and harms flowing from their use, and the ever-growing call for trust, Jaspal foresees the incremental demand of businesses to be held accountable for consequences, both legal and ethical, of their use.

Jaspal was a recipient of two grants in 2021 as Lead Researcher:

• Digital Society Research Grant (DSRG) from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to develop ‘Recommendations for the creation of a governance framework for the protection of personal data used in the development of AI systems’
• Ministry of Higher Education, with the prestigious Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) for the research project ‘Aligning a national AI ethics framework with Malaysian values to govern the development and deployment of trustworthy and responsible AI systems in Malaysia’.

Jaspal and her research collaborator developed the first Malaysia AI Ethics Index 2021, cited in the Malaysia AI Blueprint 2021. To raise awareness of AI, Law, and Ethics, Jaspal contributes op-eds to Malaysian national newspapers, including carrying out speaking engagements, and has published a series in the articles section of the Malayan Law Journal.

Her ongoing research output includes a book chapter titled “The Values of an AI Ethical Framework for a Developing Nation: Considerations for Malaysia” in the Handbook on Regulating AI and Big Data in Emergent Economies (Elgar Publishing); a research paper titled “Challenges of Adopting National Values in an AI Ethical Framework: Incompatibility with Universal Values”; and a co-authored paper titled “Algorithmic Collusion and Malaysian Competition Law: Architecture of Pricing Algorithm and AI Ethical Governance”.