Three Laws Blog: Law and Artificial Intelligence

A New Blog On AI and Legal Education @theFordon @SeanLovesBooks @JenWondracek @AZSarahMom

Check out AI Law Librarians, this new blog on generative AI and legal education, research, and tech, from some very smart and very entertaining law librarians. 

Craigle on Law Libraries Embracing AI @craiglelist

Valeri Craigle, James E. Faust Law Library, University of Utah College of Law, is publishing Law Libraries Embracing AI in Law Librarianship in the Age of AI (Ellyssa Valenti, ed., 2019) (forthcoming).

The utilization of AI provides insights for legal clients, future-proofs careers for attorneys and law librarians, and elevates the status of the information suite. AI training in law schools makes students more practice-ready in an increasingly tech-centric legal environment; Access to Justice initiatives are embracing AI’s capabilities to provide guidance to educational resources and legal services for the under-represented. AI’s presence in the legal community is becoming so common that it can no longer been seen as an anomaly, or even cutting edge. Some even argue that its absence in law firms will eventually be akin to malpractice. This chapter explores some practical uses of AI in legal education and law firms, with a focus on professionals who have gone beyond the role of AI consumers to that of AI developers, data curators and system designers.

Download the essay from SSRN at the link.

Baker on 2017 A Legal Research Odyssey: Artificial Intelligence as Disruptor @gngrlibrarian

Jamie J. Baker, Texas Tech School of Law, has published 2017 A Legal Research Odyssey: Artificial Intelligence as Disruptor. Here is the abstract.

Cognitive computing is revolutionizing finance through the ability to combine structured and unstructured data and provide precise market analysis. It is also revolutionizing medicine by providing well-informed options for diagnoses. Analogously, ROSS, a progeny of IBM’s Watson, is set to revolutionize the legal field by bringing cognitive computing to legal research. While ROSS is currently being touted as possessing the requisite sophistication to perform effortless legal research, there is a real danger in a technology like ROSS causing premature disruption. As in medicine and finance, cognitive computing has the power to make legal research more efficient. But the technology is not ready to replace the need for law students to learn sound legal research process and strategy. When done properly, legal research is a highly creative skill that requires a deep level of analysis. Law librarians must infuse law students with an understanding of legal research process, as well as instruct on the practical aspects of using artificial intelligence responsibly in the face of algorithmic transparency, the duty of technology competence, malpractice pitfalls, and the unauthorized practice of law.

Download the article from SSRN at the link.