We Robot 2025: Windsor Law Hosts a Bold, Borderless Dialogue on Law, AI, and the Future of Robotics

Authored by: Daina Elias, Windsor Law Student JD ‘26 & LTEC Lab Research Assistant

What does it mean for a Canadian law school on the edge of the U.S. border to host one of the world’s most influential conversations about robots, rights, and regulation at a time when machines are rewriting the rules of everything from transportation to speech itself?

On April 3rd-5th, 2025, Windsor Law made history as the first Canadian host of the We Robot conference, a globally recognized gathering of leading scholars and practitioners that has shaped the field of robot law since its inception in the U.S. over a decade ago. The conference owes its inception to the foresight and leadership of University of Washington School of Law Professor Dr. Ryan Calo, University of Miami School of Law Professor A. Michael Froomkin, and the late Dr. Ian R. Kerr, former Canada Research Chair in Ethics, Law, and Technology at the University of Ottawa. Regarded as a leading peer-reviewed forum for interdisciplinary scholarship, We Robot’s founding visionaries have welcomed participants from across disciplines and around the world to be part of dynamic conversations focused on the legal and policy implications of robots and AI.

As robots become more sophisticated and embedded in everyday life— be it from battlefields to homes and hospitals to public spaces— they are outpacing existing legal frameworks and pressing policymakers to rethink how the law responds to emerging technologies. In light of their swift deployment across diverse sectors, Windsor Law uniquely brought cross-border perspectives to the forefront and resultantly highlighted how AI and robotics demand legal responses that transcend national lines. This year, the conference was hosted and chaired by Windsor Law Professor Dr. Kristen Thomasen, Chair in Law, Robotics, and Society.

The conference events began on April 3rd at Art Windsor Essex (AWE) with a day-long public workshop designed to spark curiosity and critical reflection. Attendees dove into sessions including “Museums, Mirrors, and Machine Learning 101” with AWE Artist Najda Pelkey, “Law 101” a crash course in technology law with Suzie Dunn, Assistant Professor at Dalhousie University Schulich School of Law, Marina Pavlovic, Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, and Dr. Katie Szilagyi, Assistant Professor and Faculty Senator at the University of Manitoba Faculty of Law, and “Robots 101,” an accessible breakdown of how autonomous systems are reshaping society by Dr. Jason Millar, Associate Professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Ottawa, and AJung Moon, Experimental Roboticist and Assistant Professor at McGill University’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

A standout moment came during the powerful “Organizing 101: Resisting Technofascism” panel, which facilitated a timely exchange on how communities can resist oppressive uses of technology. The panel included Dr. Sara Ghebremusse, Assistant Professor and the Chair in Mining Law and Finance at Western Law, Dr. Luke Stark, Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at the University of Western Ontario, Dr. Vasanthi Venkatesh, Associate Professor in Law, Land, and Local Economies at Windsor Law, Bianca Wylie, Partner at Digital Public, and was moderated by Cynthia Khoo, Technology and Human Rights Lawyer and Senior Fellow at The Citizen Lab. The latter discussion was beautifully memorialized in a zine created by Marc Ngui, now available online for anyone interested in revisiting its insights.

Day 1 concluded with “The World’s Best Robot Trivia,” and a lively evening at Terribly Good Studios with a mixed-reality art experience, music, and robot-themed drinks. Now on display at Dry Goods Gallery in Ford City, the art continues to foster engagement within the community.

On April 4th and 5th, the conference moved to Windsor Law for two full days of panels/paper presentations and interdisciplinary dialogue. Scholars and practitioners from across North America gathered to examine critical issues ranging from robotic agriculture and expressive AI to algorithmic governance, facial recognition, and the legal treatment of AI-generated data. A highlight on Day 2 included a live demonstration by the award-winning uWindsor Engineering Rover Team, whose presence underscored the collaborative spirit of the event and offered a tangible glimpse into the future of robotics.

The sessions were complemented by an engaging poster session and a closing raffle featuring two exceptional prizes: the newly published Robot Law: Volume II, edited by Dr. Ryan Calo, A. Michael Froomkin, and Dr. Kristen Thomasen, awarded to 2L Windsor Law Student Anne Masibag, and an original robot-generated artwork from the Terribly Good Studios event, won by Windsor Law Professor Shanthi Senthe. 

Amid the engaging three-day program, LTEC Lab was honoured to contribute as a sponsor of We Robot 2025 alongside Windsor Law, Microsoft, the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), the AI + Society Initiative at the University of Ottawa, RCE Detroit-Windsor, Boston University School of Law, the University of Miami, and the University of Washington Tech Policy Lab.

Windsor Law LTEC Lab is a research network that critically assesses how the law should respond to technological change to while promoting social justice. Beyond supporting students and researchers, LTEC Lab is proud to have contributed to a global conversation that powerfully reflects their core mission: building legal frameworks that are collaborative, cross-border, and critically engaged with emerging technologies. As Discussant to the thought provoking paper “Consensus ad artificialis: Contract Theory Meets the GenAI Mind,” LTEC Lab Director and Windsor Law Professor Dr. Pascale Chapdelaine reflected on the event, noting the high quality of the papers selected and a strong sense of community and commitment to improving each author’s work, while respecting their distinctiveness.

Among the many thought-provoking panels, including Windsor Law’s very own Professor Dr. Vasanthi Venkatesh’s “The Racialized Treadmill of Robotic Agriculture,” and Professor Shanthi Senthe’s “Game Face: Legal Tackle on Facial Recognition and Privacy Rights in the NFL,” special congratulations are in order for the recipients of the Ian R. Kerr Memorial Conference Paper Award: Columbia Law Professor Clare Huntington, recognized for her outstanding scholarship on “AI Companions and Family Law,” and University of Manitoba Law Professor Dr. Katie Szilagyi and University of Ottawa Law Professor Marina Pavlović, distinguished for their exceptional work on “Consensus ad artificialis: Contract Theory Meets the GenAI Mind.” While the papers were briefly available during the conference, a full collection will be published later this year in a forthcoming issue of the Canadian Journal of Law and Technology.

With robots increasingly testing the limits of our legal and ethical frameworks, We Robot 2025 at Windsor Law was a powerful reminder that the future of law is already here, and is, as it stands, borderless. For those who were unable to attend, a permanent digital archive, including video recordings, is available through Windsor Law’s official We Robot 2025 site.

Thank you to everyone whose presence and support helped bring this event to life!