Information Policy Lab

Offered through UCLA’s Institute for Technology, Law & Policy (ITLP), the Information Policy Lab is a weekly seminar that gives students real-world policy projects to complete throughout the semester related to emerging issues in technology, law, and society. Over the course of the semester, students work in small groups to develop a policy output related to the thematic focus, conducting research on the topic, translating important findings into written outputs, networking with relevant experts, and communicating their final works through oral and written advocacy. Since its inception, the Lab followed a thematic focus: platform governance and the news media ecosystem (Fall 2022), virtual and extended reality technologies (Spring 2024), data privacy (Spring 2025), and digital likeness (Spring 2026). 

In Spring 2027, the Lab will focus entirely on emerging attempts to regulate so-called AI products and companies by state and federal lawmakers. This semester will be a tech policy deep-dive, offering students the ability to select a topic of their own interest from a wide range of options, all concerning the development, deployment, and social impacts of AI products on Californians.

Topics may include: data centers, environmental impacts of model development, AI products in educational institutions, AI products in legal practice and institutions, concentration of market power among AI companies, data privacy in AI systems, societal violence by and mental health harms to individuals interacting with AI products, AI-generated digital likeness issues (including, but not limited to, deepfakes, scams, and deathbots), AI “slop” and election integrity, and the impacts of AI-generated “art” and “music” on human creators’ IP rights and economic opportunities. Students will also have the opportunity to pitch other relevant topics in the first weeks of class.

As the semester progresses, students will work in small groups to identify gaps in existing policy efforts around their topic of choice, focusing primarily on California legislation and drawing from efforts from other U.S. states, as well as other countries. Throughout the semester, students will learn how to find, read, analyze, and draft bills, as well as bill package materials, including one-pagers for policymakers and written advocacy for broader audiences. Each policy recommendation will also require a legislative survey to avoid redundancies and a legal assessment of the proposal’s constitutionality. At the end of the semester, each student group will have identified a policy gap and drafted a policy recommendation in the form of a model bill, plus bill package. Students will also have the opportunity to write blog-style advocacy pieces describing their policy recommendations for more general audiences. Depending on the topics chosen, students may have the opportunity to develop their policy recommendations in concert with advocacy organizations  active in AI policy. Where these organizations routinely influence lawmakers, students may even see their recommendations inform genuine policy efforts in California’s future legislative sessions. 

This is an interactive, experiential learning class. It provides students the opportunity to develop their legal research, writing, communication, and advocacy skills on a cutting-edge topic with global import. Students should come prepared to discuss assigned readings, as well as conduct independent research, work in peer groups, participate actively in class discussions and activities, and reflect on their personal learning goals.