Yearly Research Projects

Three of our students studied the disconcerting
possibility that the emerging metaverse may become
a haven for hate crimes, rivaling or surpassing the
prevalence witnessed on the internet. These issues
can become increasingly complicated as avatars
presented in the metaverse may not coincide with
the non-digital version of the user. The students
dissected the psychosocial catalysts that foster
heightened online animosity, while also forecasting
the potential for the metaverse to be molded into an
ecosystem with reduced rather than heightened levels
of hatred, given proper vigilance and supervision.

A group of three dedicated students examined
the exciting field of space tourism and the diverse
legal, ethical and social concerns that arise from
this new niche. A timely issue, as the world of mostly
unregulated extreme tourism becomes ever more
popular and ever more dangerous. The students dived
into the legal challenges, including liability and safety
concerns, as well as the potential effects that space
tourism could have on our environment. The students
managed to cultivate a number of solutions to facilitate
a more responsible space tourism industry including
a call for the development of an international body,
the International Civil Space Tourism Organization,
whose sole purpose is to create and enforce space
regulations.

A team of three exemplary students explored the legal,
ethical, and social repercussions of quantum computing,
a rapidly emerging technology that harnesses the laws of
quantum mechanics, potentially solve extremely complex
computational problems, often very quickly. The team
delved into the many legal concerns of the technology,
including privacy and the potential for large-scale data
breaches as a result of new quantum technologies. They
also explored new forms of encryption arising out of this
technology. One of their most paramount concerns was
the potential for realignment of national interests resulting
from the limited availability of the technology, and the
potential power it can provide. The ZMI fellows created
a set of best practices on how to increase regulation
and oversight of quantum computing to ensure the
continued protections of our rights and freedom.

Carbon offset trading is a market-based approach
to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and
addressing climate change. Polluting companies
can offset their contribution to climate change by
purchasing the rights of less polluting companies.
A group of three enthusiastic students set out to
discover some of the legal and ethical challenges
associated with carbon offsetting, eventually
developing a comprehensive proposal that if
adapted, could create a more efficient, transparent
and fair carbon trading market, one that can
actually makes a difference to the environment.

A group of our outstanding students explored the
benefits of incorporating Artificial Intelligence (AI)
driven-tools in the service of Human Resources.
While AI can enhance recruiting, perform reviews,
facilitate talent development and increase employee
engagement, there remain many dilemmas
associated with employing AI to perform a very
human endeavor. Ultimately, the team’s goal was
to explore various methods of AI integration while
producing legal recommendations for privacy issues
and creating a code of ethics to ensure that anytime
AI is implemented in HR, it will be transparent and
accountable system.

“In the coming years, facial recognition will be
normalized for the usage on our children.”

Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) is an emerging
technology that has already crept into our everyday
lives. While laws have been developed to protect
adults from many of the concerns associated with FRT,
those laws are often not broad enough to encompass
the novel concerns that arise when using FRT on
adolescents. A group of three passionate students set
out to discover some of the legal challenges associated
with FRT and children. Importantly, these students
found a discrepancy in the way this technology is
marketed versus the way that it is practically used.
After a thorough examination, the students developed
a comprehensive proposal as to how this technology
can be safely employed on children as cautiously and
effectively as it is for adults.

“Soon, Rules as Code will be the innovative tool that
will completely alter the way we design, draft, and
consume legislation.”

Rules as code (RAC), is the translation of the law into
machine readable code. It is a disruptive technological
method that is gaining traction across different
jurisdictions worldwide and it will soon become
a better way for society to tackle all aspects of
legislation. A group of three driven students took a
deep dive into the legal and ethical repercussions.
They examined ways in which governments can
leverage RAC in different aspects of our lives. Our
students found that any implementation of RAC
requires a focus on software bugs and errors, as
well as human discretion in deciding which laws can
be tailored to this innovative method.

“We’ve used it in rockets, we’ve seen it in fruit
flies, but can it be achieved in humans?”

Digital Twins has started to rapidly shape our
world, in particular, the ways in which we design,
conceptualize, and build innovative products. The
technology is already used in a myriad of industries.
A team of three exemplary students embarked
on a journey of exploring the relatively novel use
of digital twins in the health sector. While they
found the technology to be capable in this field,
they also found diverse legal challenges such as
ownership of the algorithms, the data and the
digital twin models and the right to either gain or
limit access to the information. The team delved
into the many aspects of the technology with the
end goal of creating some best practices on how
to safely create, a spitting image of ourselves.

“In the future, instead of going to a gravesite, you
would just go to your loved one’s website.”

We have all had that one existential thought: can we live
forever? A group of three dedicated students examined
whether immortality is indeed possible through the
futuristic technological concept of uploading our
consciousness to an artificial intelligence machine.
While their research touched upon some wishful
ideas, they discovered real and current challenges
related to accuracy, ethics, and privacy associated
with the technology. The team managed to cultivate a
number of solutions as to how to ethically and legally
facilitate the development of this nascent technology

“If we were aware of the true cost of fashion, would
we change our ways?”

With the impact of fashion rearing its ugly head as a
contributor to climate change, three of our amazing
students aimed to explore not only the dangers and
challenges that fashion pose to our environment,
but also the ways in which we can change these
damaging impacts. Their research led them to assess
four key stakeholders, namely: Manufacturers, Retailers,
Consumers, and Government. While each of these
stakeholders can change the way that we design,
create, consume, and dispose of fashion, the team’s key
takeaway is that the change starts with us. Every person
is a consumer, and without individual widespread
awareness, we will never be able to achieve widespread
action. The team produced recommendations and
formulated methods to reduce the challenges that
arise especially from the increasingly popular fastfashion sector.

In light of increased suicide in the young digital
generation, a number of measures have been
developed in recent years to identify early signs
of suicide intentions on social media. A group of
three extraordinary students researched how AI
technology employed on social media can actually
support and save lives. Alongside the benefits of
identifying youth at risk, a main concern is the
privacy of the users, the negative stigma that their
identification creates, and the onerous terms of use
of the various platforms. The team recommended
promoting a regulation that will support the use
of this technology.

CRISPR technology can prevent the suffering of
billions of baby chicks annually. A team of four 
driven students conducted an extensive survey
of 400 participants across Israel to assess the
public’s acceptance for using tools like CRISPR in
poultry farming. The students found that public
fear of CRISPR needs to be dealt with before the
technology can be used broadly in agribusiness.
The students proposed a committee of relevant
stakeholders to better promote the use of this
technology for the benefit of the public health.
In this context, the team also proposed regulation
that would indicate the quality and safety of
genetically modified livestock.

Three bright students researched how immersive
VR can increase empathy and inspire donors to
give to charitable causes. However, the same
qualities which make VR an excellent medium for
charities can also have diverse ethical and legal
implications. A main concern is that the high degree
of immersiveness can cause psychological damages
such as post-traumatic stress disorder, especially if
disturbing or violent content is consumed. A further
concern is that the creator of a VR experience
might take advantage of the trust we place in VR
experiences to misuse the technology, to distort
reality, and to create false narratives for naïve
audiences. The students found that self-regulation
and oversight are the best solutions for a diverse,
disparate and international charity sector.

Three exceptional students researched the concept
of gamification in K-12 education. They specifically
focused on how it can enhance student motivation
and engagement. Alongside the benefits, our students
explored some of the legal, social and ethical
repercussions. The students focused on concerns
related to data mining of students’ information,
especially when the students are underage, a concern
exacerbated when gaming creates an atmosphere
where students incorrectly perceive the risks related
to information sharing and to disclose more of their
personal information than they would in other
circumstances. The digital divide remains a important
social consideration. The team recommended specific
efforts to raise awareness of the risks involved in
gathering information and, as a result, reducing it.

As of today, there are over 100 million landmines
buried in 60 different countries worldwide and
the current detection methods are inefficient,
unsafe and expensive. A group of three outstanding
students explored the benefits and challenges of
synthetic biology solutions to support landmine
detection. One potential solution: bacteria
engineered to react explosives inside the landmines,
exposing their location. Notwithstanding the clear
benefits, the students researched social and legal
considerations, such as the lack of regulations,
the potential for mutations, and concerns with
conventional wisdom regarding genetic engineering.
The students suggested that much of the concerns
can be ameliorated by creating awareness and
changing the way policymakers and the public
think about Synthetic Biology.

A group of three driven students worked closely together
with Gadfin Aero-Logistics Systems and conducted research
on the legal challenges arising from the implementation of
commercial delivery drones technology, specifically issues
relating to standard operating rules, privacy and liability.
Furthermore, the students examined the current economic
challenges faced by supply chain designers and managers,
especially their mitigation via the implementation of B2B
drone delivery. The team developed a comprehensive Truck
and Drones model wherein one or more drones traveling
on a truck along a multi-stop route, are dispatched to
deliver a single shipment at each stop, eventually returning
to the truck further down the path.

Considering the over 128,000,000 hypersonic pieces
of debris zooming in orbit around the earth, three of
our students researched the legal, social and economic
concerns of space debris. With an understanding that
the existing treaties and guidelines are insufficient, the
students developed their own legal proposals to ensure
that space will continue to be a safe arena for current
and future generations. The team drafted what they hope
will become an internationally binding addendum made
up of three articles, including a space debris definition, a
25-year satellite expiration date preventing an overflow of
spacecrafts in orbit, and a technology advancement fund
establishing a commitment that every space faring nation
must help subsidize emerging and existing technologies
while cleaning up existing space debris.

A group of dedicated students explored the benefits and
challenges of the technological advancement of Human
Ranking using Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI’s entrance
into Human Ranking will create new opportunities in
many sectors, such as health, education and employment,
and should ostensibly generate efficiencies and solve
social issues resulting from implicit human basis. Still, this
automatic categorization and classification of humans
according to attributes and values determined by an
algorithms can be legally and ethically problematic. The
legal repercussions, including privacy concerns and the
entrenchment and perpetuation of bias could allow AI
Human Raking systems to spread inhumanity, through
automated decision-making.
The students suggested that much of the concerns can be
ameliorated through a regulatory body that supervises,
controls and certifies these AI systems. Moreover, the
students recommended to incorporate fairness-by-design
at the development stage and maintain best practices in
human-centered design, human oversight and accessibility.

Three exceptional students researched the use of smart
speakers on college campuses, particularly, the emerging
use of these technologies in digital education and the
legal and ethical concerns associated with those potential
uses. Along with the benefits of enhancing the educational
experience on campus for both the students and faculty,
the team surveyed the student body in order to better
understand their concerns with smart speakers, as well as
what technologies they would be interested in seeing on
campus. A main concern related to personal information
that can be collected from the institution or contracted
third party.

Medical cannabis is scheduled as a restricted drug and is
as such often dismissed as a viable pharmaceutical. This
is exacerbated because unlike conventional drugs that are
composed of a single-molecule substances making it easy
to regulate, research and administer, the cannabis plant
is composed of hundreds of potentially pharmaceutically
active molecules that can have different effects on the
human body. A group of three passionate students worked
closely with the founder of the Israeli Medical Cannabis,
Association to research the legal and economic issues
with the new Israeli reform, proposing various solutions
that could ensure greater acceptance of medical cannabis
as well as make the medicine accessible at a reasonable
cost to patients whose quality of life depends on it.

Today data analysis solutions
have become more prevalent and
are implemented in many fields.
A group of four driven students focused on its absorption
into the legal field, whereby judicial roles make use of
Big Data platforms to extract data on legal processes,
employ algorithms and input legal facts to receive an
output regarding the best course of action correlated
with the evidence. The team discovered various critical
issues that coincide with the use of such a technology,
both by lawyers as well as the judiciary, such as AI bias,
privacy and constitutional issues, and thus focused on
creating a regulatory baseline to ensure such a platform
is used within a rule-based system.

As society ages, diseases such as
Alzheimer’s and Dementia and
their lifelong effects become
more pertinent and relevant. As demographics shift, the use
of aging technology prevalence has increased drastically.
A group of four outstanding students conducted research
into the implications of these technologies, aiming to create
a friendlier environment for elderly suffering from these
debilitating diseases. After meeting with experts in the
field, the students were able to pinpoint and identify the
main concerns relating to the use of aging technologies
such as privacy, cost effectiveness, autonomy, the digital
gap and mental health. This research enabled the team
to formulate various solutions that hold the potential
to provide a brighter and safer future for the elderly.

A group of dedicated students
worked closely together with
Zipline, a successful multinational
drone company, in order to examine the topic of Delivery by
Drones. Their goal was to investigate the social, legal and
ethical implications associated with Zipline’s technology
in particular, and in general, to advise drone companies
in Israel and relevant regulatory bodies, regarding this
emerging technology. Zipline is a particularly interesting
example because it provides aerial deliveries of blood
and anti-venom via drones. The students considered both
Zipline’s business model as well as other types of cargo
that could be delivered. The team managed to cultivate
three solutions in order to facilitate easier entry of this
method into the Israeli marketplace.

A group of passionate students
worked in collaboration with
DNAtix, a DNA and Blockchain company, to research
the ethical, legal and social challenges of combining
genetics sequencing and Blockchain technology. Through
this platform, users may request genetic information in
order to learn about their health status and other important
DNA related matters. Throughout their research, the
students were able to identify major implications of this
technology, such as: ownership of results, information
storage and encryption. After thorough examination,
the students proposed a design for
how such a platform may be built in
order to exercise its advantages whilst
simultaneously dealing with its issues.

A team of three ZMI fellows
worked closely together with students from SMU University
in Singapore and explored how Artificial Intelligence (AI)
may be implemented to better predict health outcomes
and to possibly prevent serious health issues. AI provides
the ability to limit human error, reduce cognitive workload
for doctors, improve diagnostics and speed up decision
making in time-sensitive healthcare decisions. However,
these AI capabilities coexist with many repercussions.
Ultimately, the team’s goal was to explore methods of
AI integration in the medical field, whilst taking into
consideration evolving legislation concerning
the impact of AI on healthcare decisions and
how society as a whole would respond
to such developments.

Two of our exceptional students
researched, in collaboration with
students from SMU University in Singapore, the evolving
advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its ability
to write creations of art and culture in various forms.
These developments lead to complex situations whereby
creations such as automated scripts are co-created by man
and machine, which subsequently results in the question:
Who is the legal author in this scenario? Such questions
raise numerous intellectual property matters, particularly
the concern of mutual authorship between man and
machine which is a growing present-day phenomenon.
With a thorough examination of Singapore Intellectual
Property Laws regarding this issue,
the team was able to investigate
and identify a number of legal and
social concerns. The team produced
recommendations on the matter
and formulated methods to avoid
the challenges that arise.

A group of students set out to research whether or not it is feasible to implement AI in the patent application process and what are the legal, ethical and social concerns associated with AI in the examination process. The project included a roundtable, organized by the students, where they queried professionals in the fields of AI and patent law.

A team of students worked closely with Deloitte to research the legal, ethical and social implications of telematics based insurance. This technology allows insurance companies to tailor insurance to the exact needs and habits of individual drivers, allowing drivers to save costs, and insurers to minimize risk.

A group of students worked closely in conjunction with the Ministry of Transportation to research the legal and social challenges of utilizing big data to enhance control of traffic in smart cities. The students examined the legal and ethical concerns associated with using cellular position data to collect traffic information without express consent from the cellular users.

Students worked in collaboration with 5th dimensions, a deep learning company, to research the legal and social concerns relating to the collection and analyzation of data in various EU jurisdictions, in particular Germany.

A team of students worked closely together with Teva to research issues related to the premature implementation of precision medicine and the legal implications thereof by payors, who are in charge of funding pharmaceutical, within the health insurance system.

Some students worked in conjunction with the Israeli Ministry of Transportation to develop regulations for the introduction of autonomous vehicles in Israel and to analyze the social impact of importing such vehicles into Israel.

A group of students worked together with IBM Research, in an effort to further develop artificially intelligent systems that can help attorneys deal with complex tasks, including the especially complex issue of fair use within the copyright system, as regulated by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

A team of students worked with WAVE, a startup that uses Blockchain technology to digitize international trade. The students examined the international frameworks in this area to determine how to optimally introduce a blockchain based bill of lading.

A group of students examined the legal issues associated with using off-shore 3D printing to transfer goods in lieu of standard exporting and importing practices and the complicated transactional issues associated with those efforts.

A small group of students collaborated with a genetics lab at Stanford University to research the use of genetics to optimize athlete training and minimize athlete injury for the nearly one thousand Stanford varsity athletes. The issues touched on relevant and timely concerns related to the employment status of student athletes.