Attorneys from Tilleke & Gibbins have contributed the Laos and Thailand chapters to the newly released CMS Expert Guide to Cannabis Law and Legislation. The Thailand chapter was provided by Alan Adcock, partner and head of the firm’s regional life sciences team, while Dino Santaniello, head of Tilleke & Gibbins’ office in Laos, produced the Laos chapter. The guide provides an overview of the legal framework regulating cannabis in 33 jurisdictions around the world. It covers topics such as medical, recreational, and industrial use of cannabis, as well as the patentability of cannabis-based products. The guide’s chapters offer high-level information on the legal approach taken in each jurisdiction, as well as guidance for companies and business activities exploring possibilities in relation to cannabis and hemp. The Laos and Thailand chapters—as well as the full guide to cannabis law in 33 jurisdictions—are available on the CMS website.

Instead of the typical dystopian scene of flames, wastelands of shattered buildings, and robotic overlords policing the remaining humans, our actual dystopian future may be a workplace filled only with men named Jared who once played lacrosse in high school. This may sound far-fetched, but one resume-screening tool was found to be using an algorithm that concluded two factors were most determinative of job performance: the name Jared and a history of playing lacrosse in high school. The frailties of artificial intelligence (AI) systems in recruitment and hiring could transform our workforces in unpredictable ways. If employers blindly follow AI outcomes without a deeper examination of how the algorithmic decision is reached, hiring outcomes may be not only ridiculous but also discriminatory. Risks of AI-Reliant Hiring Some employers have enthusiastically embraced AI as a way to reduce costs and replace human bias in the recruitment process. Human recruiters do not have a great track record; for example, in France, discrimination in recruitment has posed such a serious problem that the government submits false work biographies with ethnic names to identify and punish employers that unreasonably reject qualified ethnic applicants. Unfortunately, AI is modeled on human thinking, so it may amplify our own prejudices and errant conclusions while giving the appearance of providing a fair and clean process. AI typically learns inductively by training on examples and historical data. Factors such as exclusion of certain groups from educational or career opportunities has often shaped this data, so AI’s decisions may amplify this past prejudice. For instance, Amazon experimented with mechanized recruitment in 2014, but abandoned these efforts prior to implementation after the AI tool selected a predominantly male workforce. The AI learned by analyzing patterns in resumes submitted to the company over the last 10 years. Since over this period

As in many countries around the world, IP laws in Southeast Asia do not currently specify whether works generated by artificial intelligence (AI) are protected by copyright, and there is also uncertainty surrounding the issue of ownership with respect to works created by AI. While changes to the IP legal framework are expected to respond to the rapid development of AI technologies, existing copyright laws of most countries in Southeast Asia explicitly impose the requirement of a human author for copyright protection to arise. AI-Generated Works and the Law This is similar to the position in the United States, where the US Copyright Office issued a policy statement in March 2023 reiterating the US Copyright Act’s requirement of human authorship to register copyright works. The policy document states that when an AI technology determines the expressive elements of the output, the generated materials do not fulfil the human authorship requirement. However, the US Copyright Office also clarified that certain works containing AI-generated materials may nonetheless contain sufficient human authorship for a copyright claim, such as when a human selects or arranges the AI-generated materials in a sufficiently creative way for the resulting work as a whole to constitute an original work of authorship, or when an artist modifies material originally generated by AI technology to a degree that meets the standard for copyright protection. This is distinguishable from the position in countries such as the UK and Hong Kong, where absent specific provisions addressing AI-generated works, such works may arguably be considered by some as computer-generated works, with authorship assigned to the person who arranges for creation of the work. New Challenges from Generative AI The ongoing legal uncertainties surrounding the ownership and protection of AI-generated works create practical challenges for businesses that use or develop generative AI tools.

Attorneys from Tilleke & Gibbins have contributed the Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam sections to DLA Piper’s Global Government Contracting Country by Country guide, which provides essential information for businesses in 75 jurisdictions on how to source and enter into government contracting opportunities. The guide provides procurement information for jurisdictions in Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East, and includes information on how to find procurement opportunities, the structure of procurement laws, and in-country resources and relevant publications. Each jurisdictional section includes valuable information on procedures for government tenders, bidding, and contract execution, as well as an overview of the legal and regulatory framework governing government procurement. Businesses can refer to the guide to gain a better understanding of procurement processes and regulations in each jurisdiction, which can help them identify potential opportunities and make informed decisions when pursuing government contracts. The guide’s procurement information for Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam, combined with the online platform’s comprehensive resources, provides businesses and governments with a valuable tool to navigate the complex regulatory landscape of government contracting in the region. The full Global Contracting Country-by-Country guide is available on the DLA Piper website.