The essence of judicial process is inextricably linked to its human element. As technological legal tools and the innovative solutions which employ them rapidly advance, attention is required for the debate on how to balance the hope and enthusiasm of change, with the considerations of the social ramifications that processes of ‘disruption’ can bring. In this week’s blog, read Part II of the essay by Demetrius Floudas as he questions the place human judgement in the era of legal AI, and investigates the role that initiatives like the LLMxLaw Hackathon and organisations like the E-Lab must play as these debates continue.

At the end of June, the King’s E-Lab ran its annual LLM x Law Hackathon, in partnership with Stanford University CodeX and the Cambridge Judge Business School. The four-day event brought together over 150 students from 14 countries representing 43 universities. For a second year running, it produced an array of exciting collaborations and innovative solutions to legal challenges set out by our sponsors. In this week’s blog, hear from DialogueAI, the team who placed second in the Hacker Track, not about a product but about a solution to a new-found friend’s problem.

At the beginning of July, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President, Raphael Bostic, joined Gillian Tett at the E-Lab to talk about the U.S. economy, monetary policy and the state of the economics profession. An avid believer in inclusive leadership and working with your passion, in this week’s blog, President Bostic reflects on the role an entrepreneurial frame of mind has played, even for his work in less assumingly entrepreneurial institutions, and on the benefits of embracing the unexpected.

In June, the second E-Lab LLMxLaw Hackathon brought together over 150 students from 14 countries and 43 universities. Across lightning talks, workshops, networking and hacking, these students interacted with mentors and experts from a variety of local and international sponsors and partner organisations. In this week’s blog, read the reflections of Ashik Kay, a member of the team that represented Google Cloud, on the democratisation of AI, human-led intelligence and the need to ‘Mind the Gap’ in such fast evolving environments.

From June 19^th to June 22^nd 2025, the King’s E-Lab hosted its second annual Hackathon with Hack the Law in partnership with Stanford’s CODEX. The weekend brought together over 150 students from 14 countries representing 43 universities and produced exciting collaborations and innovative solutions to legal challenges set out by our sponsors. In this week’s blog, hear from the winners of the special category Access 2 Justice on their solution: KnowYourRights.

Sandi Toksvig took to the lectern in Keynes Hall at King’s College on the 8th of May to deliver the annual Alan Turing lecture. The subject of the speech, a consideration of bias in the era of AI, was prefaced by an extensive archival display of mementos of Turing’s time at King’s, letters from the course of his extraordinary life, and traces of the stories which make up the road (still being trodden) to equality in Cambridge. In this week’s blog, E-Lab Member Sophie Harbour reflects on the lessons from Toksvig’s talk about how to use notably human talents to tackle the challenge of bias in AI.

On the 10^th of June, the King’s E-Lab hosted Ambassador Maulidah Hassan, a distinguished Tanzanian diplomat and the current Personal Assistant for Diplomatic Affairs to President Samia Suluhu Hassan – the first female Head of State in Tanzania’s history and a transformative figure in African and global politics. In conversation with Uduak Jesuthasan, Ambassador Hassan provided insight into what can we learn from navigating complex, patriarchal systems that do not ordinarily set the ground for women to hold the highest office. In this week’s blog, read Nageen Qasim’s reflections on the night.

From June 19^th to June 22^nd 2025, the King’s E-Lab hosted its second annual Hackathon with Hack the Law in partnership with Stanford’s CODEX. The weekend brought together over 150 students from 14 countries representing 43 universities and produced exciting collaborations and innovative solutions to legal challenges set out by our sponsors. In this week’s blog, hear from the third-place winner Daria on her experience of the weekend and on her approach to addressing challenges in litigation: No Human Intelligence.

How can we improve civil services with modern technology so that municipal governments can provide citizens with the best service possible with limited resources? This is exactly the question that Magan Chin and Stan van Baarsen are trying to answer with their venture, FIG. On Tuesday 27 May, the pair participated in the final Pitch@King’s of the year with the hope of articulating their mission and sharing how they aim to address the bottlenecks in local government services. In this week’s blog, read the founders’ reflections on the development of their partnership, their journey to Pitch@King’s, and their hopes for their venture.

At the end of June, the King’s E-Lab ran its annual LLM x Law Hackathon, in partnership with Stanford Universuty CodeX and the Cambridge Judge Business School. The four-day event brought together over 150 students from 14 countries representing 43 universities. For a second year running, it produced an array of exciting collaborations and innovative solutions to legal challenges set out by our sponsors. In this week’s blog, hear from the winner of the Hacker Track, Julia Volovich as she discusses her CounterClaim Eagle application.

Multilateral Development Institutions (MDIs) play a crucial role in creating connections across nations and in deploying context-specific financial tools to support the development of diverse economies. These practices, while they must be open to scrutiny, should not be too easily dismissed given the value they can generate for vulnerable populations across the world. In this week’s blog, Jigar Patel and Christiaan van der Does de Willebois reflect on their recent EMBA cohort trip to the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) Sao Paulo offices. They extend a call to students to use the opportunities they have to explore how we build relationships for the better of all in these complex times.

Joodi Mourhli completed the King’s E-Lab Residential Programme as a part of the 2023-2024 cohort and received a runner up prize in the E-Lab competition the same year. Since then, Joodi has pursued her venture through participation in programmes, like EnterpriseWOMEN, and partnerships with key stakeholders in her industry, such as the Syrian Youth Empowerment (SYE) initiative. In this week’s blog, read about Joodi’s journey to embrace entrepreneurial thinking by asking bold questions, acting with empathy, and believing that small interventions can create outsized impact.

What happens when a shared passion for change meets a rigorous Climate Challenge? In this week’s blog, Sally Musonye and Jockim Kamalha share their journey in bridging energy poverty and educational inequality from rural Kenya to the Cambridge Zero Climate Challenge stage, recounting how their innovative approach transforms lives in underserved communities. At the finale in March 2024, Sally and Kamalha pitched MPowered, as a part of AshGold Africa Initiative, and achieved recognition as runners-up. Learn about their experience from the demanding yet profoundly rewarding training, from the moments of doubt and motivation, and from their belief in building through collaboration.

On the 13^th of March, Lucy-Anne Garnett, Sigrid Kirk and Katy Wickremesinghe joined Art History Student Jin Cheng in an exploration of the transformative connections between art and business and shed light on how these intersections create dynamic networks that bridge emerging and established careers. In this week’s blog, Jin reflects on the insights from the speakers: cultural capital is not static, art and business can align when care rather than commodity is focal, and proactive efforts to build inclusive spaces are possible.