On November 24, 1989, under the decision made by the Dean’s Office will of Shanghai Administrative Cadres Institute of Political Science and Law, which was the predecessor of Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, the department of technology law at Shanghai Institute of Law and Justice was founded and it is specialized in doing research in the fields of technology law and information law. In May, 2019, the University made a decision to establish the School of Artificial Intelligence and Law, together with an affiliated research institute for AI, Law and Policy in order to adapt the constructive needs of systems, norms, standards and procedures for the incoming era of AI. 

The School of Artificial Intelligence and Law is the first nationwide law school offering a bachelor's degree in artificial intelligence and law. It is founded on the concept of stagger competition, alternative development, and for a high cause of serving the national development strategy of AI. With an interdisciplinary approach, the School strives for excellence in educating skill-based, well-rounded legal practitioners who have dual knowledge of law and technology.

   At AI and Law, a diverse and committed faculty aims to deliver the best legal education. Over eighty percent of full-time faculty members have doctorate degrees, around sixty-seven percent of full-time faculty members is associate professors and professors. Among them, there are three PhD supervisors, two Shanghai’s Top Ten Junior Legal Scholars, two Shanghai Shuguang Scholars and one Baogang Outstanding Tutor.

The faculty today has four departments, which are the Department of Artificial Intelligence Law, the Department of Law and Artificial Intelligence, the Department of Computing Law, and the Department of Higher Education in Computer Science. Two curriculums of AI Law have been selected to the distinguished curriculum enrichment program sponsored by the Shanghai Municipal Educational Committee. Three curriculums have been selected to the University Core Curriculums program. One curriculum has been selected to the excellent curriculum program of the Municipal level, one selected to the best online open-course program respectively.

The School has set up a model for a new type of interdisciplinary work that brings together an array of lawyers, scientists, and entrepreneurs (i.e., iFLYTEK, CES, and etc.) to harness its unique mix of legal and technical expertise. It also probes a new integrated system for the collaboration between university and industry, for the integration of production and education, for the combination between research and development, and for the harmonization of developing artificial intelligence and law. At AI Law school, the faculty, staff and students also have an opportunity to immerse themselves in artificial intelligence and law, relying on the world-class research platforms established by the government and our industry partners (i.e., iFLYTEK, CES, and etc.), including the Base for Intelligent Justice, the Base for Smart Prison Systems, and the Research Lab for Artificial Intelligence and Big Data