BOOK REVIEW The Cambridge Handbook of the Law, Ethics and Policy of Artificial Intelligence by Oihika Article
Oihika Arpit, Kshitij Taluja and Smrite Goudhaman
Oihika Arpit, Kshitij Taluja and Smrite Goudhaman Corresponding Author
Published: 01/09/2026
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BOOK REVIEW The Cambridge Handbook of the Law, Ethics and Policy of Artificial Intelligence by Oihika

Keywords:Artificial intelligenceAI governanceAI ethicslaw and technologyhuman rightsEU AI Actalgorithmic systemsresponsible innovation

The Cambridge Handbook of the Law, Ethics and Policy of Artificial Intelligence, edited by Nathalie A. Smuha, is most useful when read not as another catalogue of AI risks, but as an argument about how societies should keep human judgment, rights, and institutional responsibility in view as algorithmic systems become ordinary parts of decision-making. Its three-part architecture moves from technical and philosophical foundations to law and policy, and then to applications in education, media, healthcare, finance, employment, policing, public administration, and armed conflict. The volume's strongest contribution is the way it connects questions that are too often separated: what a system can technically do, what values it embodies, what legal rules constrain it, and who remains answerable when things go wrong. Its discussions of design for values, fairness, sustainability, the GDPR, and the EU AI Act are particularly effective in exposing the distance between principles and implementation. The book is not without limits. Its European legal focus, specialist vocabulary, and edited-chapter format mean that readers looking for a globally comparative or step-by-step implementation manual will need additional sources. Even so, the Handbook offers a mature starting point for engineers, policymakers, educators, researchers, and organizational leaders who want to approach AI as a social and institutional technology rather than merely a computational one.


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References

Buijsman, S., Klenk, M., & van den Hoven, J. (2025). Ethics of AI: Toward a “Design for Values” approach. In N. A. Smuha (Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of the Law, Ethics and Policy of Artificial Intelligence (pp. 59–78). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009367783.005

Dewitte, P. (2025). AI meets the GDPR: Navigating the impact of data protection on AI systems. In N. A. Smuha (Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of the Law, Ethics and Policy of Artificial Intelligence (pp. 133–157). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009367783.010

Hasselbalch, G., & Van Wynsberghe, A. (2025). Artificial intelligence, power and sustainability. In N. A. Smuha (Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of the Law, Ethics and Policy of Artificial Intelligence (pp. 117–130). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009367783.008

Lauwaert, L., & Oimann, A.-K. (2025). Moral responsibility and autonomous technologies: Does AI face a responsibility gap? In N. A. Smuha (Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of the Law, Ethics and Policy of Artificial Intelligence (pp. 101–116). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009367783.007

Molenaar, I., Baten, D., Bárd, I., & Stevens, M. (2025). Artificial intelligence and education: Different perceptions and ethical directions. In N. A. Smuha (Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of the Law, Ethics and Policy of Artificial Intelligence (pp. 261–282). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009367783.017

Naudts, L., & Vedder, A. (2025). Fairness and artificial intelligence. In N. A. Smuha (Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of the Law, Ethics and Policy of Artificial Intelligence (pp. 79–100). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009367783.006

Smuha, N. A. (Ed.). (2025). The Cambridge Handbook of the Law, Ethics and Policy of Artificial Intelligence. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009367783

Smuha, N. A., & Yeung, K. (2025). The European Union’s AI Act: Beyond motherhood and apple pie? In N. A. Smuha (Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of the Law, Ethics and Policy of Artificial Intelligence (pp. 228–258). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009367783.015

Oihika Arpit, Kshitij Taluja and Smrite Goudhaman
Oihika Arpit, Kshitij Taluja and Smrite Goudhaman Corresponding Author

Affiliation

Global Professor of Practice, Golden Gate University

Country

India

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Arpit manohar 02/09/2026

Great work


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