Kugler, Kholofelo2024-06-262024-06-262023Kugler, Kholofelo. (2023). The Regulation of AI-enabled Trade under WTO Law [Master’s dissertation , University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg]. WireDSpace. https://hdl.handle.net/10539/38761https://hdl.handle.net/10539/38761A research report submitted in fulfilling the requirements of the Research Master of Laws degree of the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of laws, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023Artificial intelligence (AI) has disrupted almost every facet of our lives. We experience AI technology in our ‘smart’ kitchens, phones, and cars and also when we are scrolling through our social media platforms or shopping online. It is fair to say that AI is ubiquitous. While AI has resulted in positive economic and efficiency gains, it also raises issues of privacy protection, national security, and entrenching existing bias and inequalities. As a result, there has been a proliferation of private standards, as well as national, regional, and international instruments seeking to harness the power, and regulate the inimical effects, of AI technologies. While rulemaking at the multilateral level, specifically at the World Trade Organization (WTO), has been absent thus far, WTO law is technology neutral and has been interpreted in an evolutionary manner that allows WTO Members’ commitments that were undertaken in the analogue era to continue to be relevant in the digital age. However, this piecemeal and fragmented regulation is far from perfect and leaves many AI-idiosyncratic areas, including data, unregulated. In this dissertation I provide an overview of the WTO law relating to the regulation of trade in goods, services, and intellectual property that is enabled by AI. It is not an exhaustive treaties of WTO law. Rather, it seeks to highlight the main disciplines, while identifying lacunae and areas of ambiguity. I conclude with some preliminary views on areas that could be included in any future multilateral agreement regulating the trade-related aspects of AI.en© 2023 University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.Artificial intelligenceInternational tradeWTO lawGATT 1994GATSTRIPSTBT AgreementDigital trade lawUCTDSDG-9: Industry, innovation and infrastructureDissertationUniversity of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg