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STEFANO Filletti, a law professor and head of the Criminal Law De- partment at the University of Mal- ta, is a known name in legal circles. He plies his trade at the law courts in Valletta, dealing with criminal cases. But the lawyer is preoccu- pied with the rise of artificial intel- ligence (AI) and its potential im- pact on the criminal justice system. Filletti heads a Council of Europe working group on AI and criminal law, tasked to answer the question: "How can we hold AI accountable?" It is not a frivolous question and Filletti brings up the example of an AI machine that invests money on behalf of its owner. If, in the search for greater efficiency, the machine learns that it can earn its owner more money by breaking the law, who would be responsible? The answer is not straightfor- ward, especially within a body of laws drafted almost three centuries ago. When I ask Filletti how he fell into the AI rabbit hole, he tells me that he spent sleepless nights thinking about the evolving technology. The complexity of the issue is not lost on him. Filletti argues that AI can be regu- lated as a legal person, in the same way companies are held responsi- ble. But any such move would ide- ally happen across European coun- tries. On a practical level, Filletti be- lieves that AI can be used to alle- viate the courts' increasing work- load by decreasing the weight of labour-intensive tasks such as writ- ing up transcripts. He adds that AI can be used as an organisational tool in Malta's courts to eliminate human error and ensure that delays are mini- mised when organising hearings and court sessions. Stefano Filletti: 'We have to think outside the box to hold AI accountable' How do we hold AI accountable? That is the burning question that weighed on Stefano Filletti's mind before he was chosen to head the Council of Europe's working group on AI that is trying to find the answers to that question. He sits down with Matthew Farrugia and enters a rabbit hole on the most controversial new technology of our age 4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 8 FEBRUARY 2026 INTERVIEW