As physical AI, agent AI, and digital assets rapidly become reality, a new book providing insights into the changes in science and technology and the legal system's response has been published.

Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) Graduate School of Legal Affairs Professor Munho Song has published a new book, When Science Moves the Law. The book addresses fundamental questions that scientific and technological advances pose to law and social institutions amid the rapid spread of artificial intelligence and the digital asset market.

In the book, Professor Song traces how technological advances — including the productivity revolution, the formation of the citizen class, evolutionary theory, and the Internet revolution — have demanded the evolution of law. He particularly assesses that in the AI era, described as a knowledge revolution that goes beyond the revolution in physical labor, the pace and impact of technological change will inevitably grow even greater.

The author warns, "Law, the final bulwark of social institutions, is always slow and deliberate," and adds, "In a situation where an AI and digital asset market that combines both spear and shield is already operating, waiting only for legal certainty may be too late."

The book is divided into three parts. Parts I and II contain opinion columns Professor Song wrote as a contributor to the Association of Graduate Schools of Law's "Law School Times" since its founding. Part III collects research papers on advanced science and technology and legal systems, including a study on virtual goods and derivative issues that he has been conducting with the National Research Foundation of Korea since 2021.

The book is notable for bringing together previously dispersed writings and research findings and presenting the legal and social issues surrounding AI and digital assets in a way that general readers can also engage with.

In the preface, Professor Song emphasizes, "In terms of performance, scores, and the supremacy of function, advanced science and technology, including AI, will continue to outpace us," but "humans possess intellect grounded in intuition, insight, and a sense of the public good."

He added, "I will not lose my light as an intellectual who contemplates how to harness technology as a benevolent public good."

The endorsements also focused on the role of law and education in steering technological development toward the social good. Hong Dae-sik, Chairman of the Association of Graduate Schools of Law, commented, "It is difficult to explain the current market order of AI and digital assets using only precedents and statutory provisions," and described the book as "one that asks readers to inquire together rather than present a single correct answer."

Member of the National Assembly Ahn Ho-young said, "Change has already arrived, but the legal vessel to contain it is still under construction," adding, "This book records deliberations, in accessible language, on how to shape that vessel."

Ho-seong Cheon, Superintendent of Education for Jeonbuk Special Self-Governing Province, also said, "The book presents an unfamiliar and difficult subject at a level accessible to general readers," and emphasized the importance of education that teaches both how to develop technology and how to use it benevolently.