National Taiwan University (NTU) and the University of Hamburg marked the third year of their joint course, “AI and Digitalization of Law,” in 2026. Focusing on artificial intelligence in medicine, the course combined legal scholarship, technical knowledge, and clinical perspectives through intensive teaching in Taipei and Hamburg and several months of collaborative student research.

The course was led by Assistant Professor Patrick Chung-Chia Huang, Professor Sieh-Chuen Huang, and Dean Huang-Yu Wang of NTU College of Law, together with Professor Kai Cornelius of the University of Hamburg Faculty of Law. Eight NTU students and five Hamburg students completed the program, with teaching periods in Taipei from March 17 to 26 and in Hamburg from June 23 to July 2.

Taipei: Connecting Technology, Medical Practice, and Law

The Taipei program introduced students to the technology and medical practices underlying their legal research. Professor Hsuan-Tien Lin of NTU explained machine learning and modern AI, helping participants with legal backgrounds understand how machines learn.

Clinical and industry perspectives brought these concepts into practice. Dr. Joe Chao-Yuan Yeh, founder and CEO of aetherAI, discussed medical AI through examples from medical imaging, digital pathology, and AI-assisted diagnosis. Drawing on experience with healthcare institutions in Taiwan, Germany, and Japan, he illustrated how legal questions arise in product development and clinical workflows. Dr. Tereza Vafková of Masaryk University contributed insights from clinical practice and medical education, examining how physicians and educators use and assess AI.

Legal sessions connected these applications to accountability and patient protection. Professor Sieh-Chuen Huang examined AI explainability and its implications for rights protection, regulatory responsibility, and risk prevention, including issues under the GDPR and the EU AI Act. Assistant Professor Patrick Chung-Chia Huang addressed data protection across the lifecycle of health data, comparing approaches in Taiwan and the European Union.

Visits to the Shilin District Prosecutors Office and units involved in electronic monitoring introduced students to Taiwan’s justice system. Visits to the National Palace Museum and Shilin Night Market also offered opportunities to explore Taipei together. The program concluded with research proposal presentations and reflections, laying the groundwork for continued collaboration before the Hamburg phase.

Hamburg: European Legal Frameworks and Professional Perspectives

The Hamburg program deepened students’ engagement with European legal frameworks through sessions on health data governance, liability for medical AI, and Open Health. A visit to the Martini-Klinik at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) connected classroom discussions with clinical practice, while a guest lecture by a partner from CMS Hasche Sigle offered a practitioner’s perspective on advising clients about emerging technologies.

On July 1, all participating students attended the international interdisciplinary conference “AI, Medicine and Law” at the Warburg-Haus. Researchers, clinicians, and practitioners discussed medical AI, virtual patients, criminal liability, and intellectual property questions arising from physicians’ use of AI. Further sessions explored computational legal theory, digital sovereignty, data protection, and the development of legal services, giving students broader perspectives on questions closely connected to their research.

Student Research: Comparative Approaches to Medical AI

The course culminated in seven research papers and presentations covering:

• Informed consent in AI-driven clinical trials

• Tort liability in medical AI

• Intellectual property protection for AI-assisted medical innovation

• Cross-border regulation of AI clinical research

• Regulatory review of AI-generated medical outputs

• Protection of vulnerable groups

• Algorithmic bias

Students used comparative approaches to examine these issues. One project considered how responsibility should be allocated among actors capable of controlling and preventing harm. Another used a shared hypothetical case to compare regulatory responses across jurisdictions, including risk classification, algorithm changes, explainability, and cross-border data flows. Other projects explored inventorship, consent and re-consent, and the relationship between technical sources of algorithmic bias and proposals for legal reform in Taiwan.

Throughout the course, students worked with legal materials in different languages, developed independent arguments, and communicated complex findings in English. Collaboration between the Taipei and Hamburg phases enabled them to revisit their initial questions and refine their analysis before the final presentations.

Strengthening an Ongoing Academic Partnership

Now in its third year, the NTU–Hamburg course continues to develop a shared approach to comparative legal education grounded in research and direct engagement with technology and professional practice. Ms. Hoeyyi Ting played an essential role in coordinating administration and teaching arrangements throughout both phases. She also accompanied the NTU delegation to Hamburg, providing on-site support with students’ studies and daily life abroad. The contributions of the teaching team, guest speakers, administrative staff, and students have strengthened the partnership between the two institutions and supported continued collaboration on the legal challenges of AI in medicine.