SINGAPORE, 29 May 2024 — The Singapore Academy of Law (“SAL”) and AI Singapore (“AISG”) will work together to support the legal profession as it faces a time of transformation, precipitated by the rise of Generative AI (“GenAI”). The partnership was formalised with a Memorandum of Understanding signed today at Asia Tech x Singapore (“ATxSG”) 2024, Asia’s flagship tech platform.

Certification of lawyers as specialists in AI-related laws and practice

SAL and AISG will collaborate on a new certification scheme to recognise lawyers with specialist knowledge in responsible AI. The scheme will cover expertise in understanding the ethics, governance and privacy issues surrounding AI. It will also keep lawyers abreast of AI regulations being introduced in jurisdictions like the European Union, China and the United States. This new scheme will complement SAL’s existing Specialist Accreditation in Data & Digital Economy.

Developing SAL’s AI capabilities

SAL and AISG will also work together to develop AI engineers specially trained to support the legal profession. LawNet Technology Services (“LTS”), a subsidiary of SAL, will engage AI Apprentices from AI Singapore’s “100 Experiments” industry capability-building programme to develop and deploy AI solutions with LTS.

Mr Yeong Zee Kin, Chief Executive of SAL, said, “This partnership with AISG is timely as AI continues to influence broad areas of the law. Formal accreditation of AI competencies will open new career paths and prospects for legal professionals as navigating regulations and compliance on the use of AI requires specialist knowledge. Having AI engineers join the LawNet team will also ensure that the service, which is used by 75% of legal practitioners in Singapore, can keep pace with new technologies.”

“Our collaboration with SAL represents a significant step towards professionalising AI roles in the legal sector.  This partnership also aims to help SAL members to #PLUSskill and thrive in the age of AI accelerated transformation” said Mr Koo Sengmeng, Head of LearnAI, AI Singapore.