I know these topics are still new and Indian academia is not very quick to bring into it's curriculum recently trending subjects. However which universities or NLUs in particular are make small yet important strides in these areas ? I know IITKgp is doing well in AI in IPR, NLIU has a cyber centre, NALSAR is doing digital & cyber in defence laws. Which other NLUs are stepping into this new area ???

I don't know about all the specifics of his work, only that involving NLP and law. But he is currently part of the Techlegality global COP on HR and tech, so he may be doing some related work. Even if he is not, he can probably connect you with those who do. Some other people whom you can connect with include Srijoni Sen, who was with NLS till last year, Ameen Jauhar from Vidhi, Arindrajit Basu from CIS, Kazeem from Dialogue.

NFSU has the best capability in this area. It already offers an LLM in Cyber Law and Cyber Crime Investigation. It combines cyber and digital forensics with law. With the funding crunch, NLUs are followers in this space and hence GNLU, NLUJ, MNLU Mumbai, and WBNUJS have signed MOUs with NFSU. NFSU is the only place you will have access to Digital Forensics and Cybersecurity Labs. NFSU gets roped in on many GOI initiatives and projects in this domain. NFSU will only grow in impact and visibility. If you truly wish to build a name in this subject area, NFSU provides the best platform and brand.

NFSU does not have a single faculty who is deemed an expert in related law. Cyber security or digital forensics and the law related to those are different things altogether. The people from both disciplines may work together, but expertise in one is not the same as expertise in the other.

This is obviously not true, but if I were the OP, then I'd see this as an opportunity instead of a shortcoming. It depends on perspective - glass half full or half empty. I don't blame you. Most on this platform are followers, not trendsetters. They'd prefer to work in subject areas/domains that are already crowded, instead of building a niche and thought leadership in a new emerging domain.

Exactly my point. AI and cyber research is not upto mark in India. The only place I see this working is IPR, but even there it's not world class. Loads of people are needed to research in the newer technologies yet I see kids still researching the same old stuff in consti, HR, IL. Met Prof Chimni recently and he also raised a good point on how the border industrial complex is using AI and facial recognition tech. Yet not even a handful of people are researching on this.

There is a lot of research happening on this, but in think tanks. CCG for example has done quite a bit of research on this. The NLUD-IITD joint project was also about this. German consulate and Max Planck did a collaborative project on regulation of personal data for machine learning with NLS and BML Munjal. Policy Schools in IITs are working on it. To say no research is happening is not simply correct.

I'm sorry to pint out but those are thinking tanks and that's literally their job. However when it comes to foreign shores, academia is also involved in heavy reasearch on these issues. Which is lacking in India. Whether you look at LLM dissertations or PhD thesis, it's clearly, "I just want a degree that's why I'm doing this", kind of a research and that's damaging our university rankings in global areas.

No research is happening in universities. No LLM students, no PhD scholars and no young faculties are pursuing this. What you're talking about is institutions outside academia or in collaboration with academia. And I've seen the role academia has been playing in these areas within the collaboration. The heavy work is all being done by the think tanks.

If Tenzing Norkay and Edmund Hillary had thought like that they'd never be the first ones to scale Mount Everest. If (as you say) there are a "handful of people" researching this, then this is a topic ripe for a doctorate as there are several research problems that can come out.

Thinktanks are doing the PR, hence the Insta-gen believes that they are doing all the work. If you want to know about actual research and development of algorithms that are happening, then check out the publications in the top conferences and journals including forum like arxiv.

I have searched almost everywhere. The problem is there is no clear cut answers on which professor is considered an authority nowadays. Gone are the days of Chimni and Chugh where people could easily identify the authorities in a particular area of IL. The best bet now is to ask the current students and alumni. They have a direct experience of who's actually good and who's good just on paper. Thanks. Do help please

Authorities are not decided by students, who can at the most vouch for their classroom teaching experience from some of those faculty, that's all. If you cannot do basic research that includes going through contemporary literature in your domain so as to be able to identify good people who have done research in that field and are still teaching at some university, then you may have to revisit your own enthusiasm and prowess in said domain, as a doctoral candidate should known better.