Wenlong Li has joined Aston Law School since November 2024 as a Lecturer in Law specialising in data and AI regulation. A lawyer by training, his research focuses on privacy and data protection law, AI regulation, and fundamental rights. Wenlong’s recent work attends to the rapid development and adoption of generative AI, addressing the challenges of applying data regulations to AI. His research also explores several under-theorised issues with regards to AI regulation, such as addictive design, children’s rights and the development of standards for implementing AI-specific regulations.

An interdisciplinary researcher at heart, Wenlong combines doctrinal, empirical, and social science methods to tackle pressing challenges that extend beyond legal interpretation. His collaborations with sociologists, computer scientists, and political economy scholars have explored issues like algorithmic management and platform workers’ rights, while his ongoing work with education scholars investigates AI-mediated threats to academic integrity in digital education.

Wenlong brings a rich blend of academic and industry experience to his role. As a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Birmingham, he co-founded the LEADS Lab and convened the Tech & Law Cluster. In the private sector, he has held research roles at multinational companies such as TikTok/Bytedance, Alibaba, and Tencent, where his action-oriented research addressed real-world challenges faced by industries, civil societies and governments. His research and teaching often adopt a global and cross-cultural perspective, drawing on his experience with diverse regulatory environments, particularly in the EU/UK, China and US.

Wenlong is affiliated with the Edinburgh Centre for Data, Culture & Society and serves as a scientific expert for the International Panel on the Information Environment (IPIE). A passionate advocate for mooting, Wenlong has been actively involved in the Oxford Price International Media Law Moot Court for over a decade as a mooter, judge, and coach. Previously, he served as an editor for SCRIPTed and guest lectured at Edinburgh Law School and the School of Computer Science, University of Birmingham. Wenlong earned his PhD in IT law from the University of Edinburgh in 2019, with a thesis exploring digital rights as a means of data protection.