Three Laws Blog: Law and Artificial Intelligence

Raymond, Young, and Shackelford on Building a Better HAL 9000: Algorithms, the Market, and the Need to Prevent Engraining Bias in AI

Anjanette Raymond, Indiana University School of Business; Queen Mary University of London, School of Law, and Indiana University (Bloomington) School of Law, Emma Arrington Stone Young, Indiana University (Bloomington), and Scott Shackelford, Indiana University School of Business, Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center for Science & International Affairs; Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research; Stanford Center for Internet and Society; Stanford Law School, are publishing Building a Better HAL 9000: Algorithms, the Market, and the Need to Prevent the Engraining of Bias in the 2017 volume of the Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property. Here is the abstract.

As sci-fi fans will recall, the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey is focused on the interaction between humans and artificial intelligence. In the movie, HAL (Heuristically programmed Algorithmic Computer) 9000 computer is an artificial intelligence and the onboard computer on the spaceship Discovery 1. HAL 9000, more commonly called “Hal,” is capable of many functions, such as speech, facial recognition, lip reading, interpreting emotions, and expressing emotions. HAL is built into the Discovery 1 spacecraft, and is in charge of maintaining all mechanical and life support systems on board. As the movie progresses, the astronauts become concerned about HAL’s behavior and agree to disconnect him, in essence killing HAL. HAL becomes aware of the plan and seeks to stop his death as the movie plot climaxes in a conflict between intelligent machine and his human controllers. Interestingly, 2001: A Space Odyssey author Arthur C. Clark could not have been more accurate about one of the emerging conflicts to face humanity: what role does society want machines to play in coordinating and governing human activity? The debate resonates from the shared economy to the ethics of artificial intelligence. This article seeks to advance the debate about the need for data regulation that focuses on the impact of the use of the data. First, it provides a brief explanation of data analytics, algorithms, and machine learning. Second, the article explores some of the common mistakes associated with data modeling within algorithmic processes. Third, the paper explores the impact of the use of data, specifically data that is used to create a digital personhood, to inform algorithms that perform basic services. Fourth and finally, the article seeks to define an ethical decision-making model and regulatory structure for data focusing on the impact of the use of the data upon the individual and society.

Download the article from SSRN at the link.

Alarie, Niblett, and Yoon on Using Machine Learning To Predict Outcomes In Tax Law @BAlarie @prof_niblett @UTLaw

Benjamin Alarie, Anthony Niblett, and Albert Yoon, all of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, have published Using Machine Learning to Predict Outcomes in Tax Law. Here is the abstract.

Recent advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning have bolstered the predictive power of data analytics. Research tools based on these developments will soon be commonplace. For the past two years, the three of us have been working on a project called Blue J Legal. We started with a view to understanding how machine learning techniques can be used to better predict legal outcomes. In this paper, we report on our experiences so far. The paper is set out in four parts. In Part 1, we discuss the importance of prediction. In many fields, humans are outperformed by mechanical and algorithmic prediction. We explore this phenomenon and conclude that the legal field is no different. In Part 2, we discuss recent advances in machine learning that have generated powerful tools for prediction. These new methods outperform traditional statistical techniques in predicting outcomes. In Part 3, we describe the Blue J Legal project. We discuss how Blue J Legal is using these machine learning technologies to provide predictions in grey areas of tax law. We provide a number of examples to illustrate the strength of these predictions. In part 4, we discuss the broader possibilities for technologies such as those powering Blue J Legal. We foresee a world where information about legal rights and responsibilities is more affordable; where the informational asymmetries that lead to wasteful expenditure on litigation is reduced; and where regulators use these tools to create a more effective and efficient administration of government. A final section concludes.

Download the article from SSRN at the link.

Dubai Is Adding Robot Police To Its Force

According to this article in Gulf News, Dubai plans to add its first AI police officer to law enforcement soon, and hopes to make robot police fully twenty-five percent of the total force by 2030. Now, no doughnut shop jokes, okay?  :-)

Alarie, Niblett, and Yoon on Law in the Future @BAlarie @prof_niblett

Benjamin Alarie, Anthony Niblett, and Albert Yoon, all of the University of Toronto, have published Law in the Future. Here is the abstract.

The set of tasks and activities in which humans are strictly superior to computers is becoming vanishingly small. Machines today are not only performing mechanical or manual tasks once performed by humans, they are also performing thinking tasks, where it was long believed that human judgment was indispensable. From self-driving cars to self-flying planes; and from robots performing surgery on a pig to artificially intelligent personal assistants, so much of what was once unimaginable is now reality. But this is just the beginning of the big data and artificial intelligence revolution. Technology continues to improve at an exponential rate. How will the big data and artificial intelligence revolutions affect law? We hypothesize that the growth of big data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning will have important effects that will fundamentally change the way law is made, learned, followed, and practiced. It will have an impact on all facets of the law, from the production of micro-directives to the way citizens learn of their legal obligations. These changes will present significant challenges to human lawmakers, judges, and lawyers. While we do not attempt to address all these challenges, we offer a short and positive preview of the future of law: a world of self-driving law, of legal singularity, and of the democratization of the law.

Download the article from SSRN at the link.

Rapaczynski on Driverless Cars and Tort Law

Andrzej Rapaczynski, Columbia Law School, has published Driverless Cars and the Much Delayed Tort Law Revolution as Columbia Law and Economics Working Paper No. 540. Here is the abstract.

The most striking development in the American tort law of the last century was the quick rise and fall of strict manufacturers’ liability for the huge social losses associated with the use of industrial products. The most important factor in this process has been the inability of the courts and academic commentators to develop a workable theory of design defects, resulting in a wholesale return of negligence as the basis of products liability jurisprudence. This article explains the reasons for this failure and argues that the development of digital technology, and the advent of self-driving cars in particular, is likely to force a comprehensive rethinking of products liability, a large-scale return to the principle of strict manufacturers’ responsibility, and a host of other developments of lasting historical and economic significance. The article argues that an integration of manufacturing and insurance industries may be one of these developments.

Download the article from SSRN at the link.

Very Inappropriate Robot Gavels @igavels

Bloomberg Business News features this piece about robots and their use in domestic relations law. The image would be fine if it pictured a U.S. judge--they use gavels. But it shows a robot in a wig, and U.K. and Canadian judges, for example, don wigs, when they're presiding in court. And they don't use gavels. Nor do Australian judges. 

I'm suggesting a Fifth Law of Robotics: A robot must not use gavels inappropriately. 

Legal AI 2016 @PKathrani

A roundup of changes in law and AI and the future of legal AI here from the Artificial Lawyer. Via @PKathrani.

Is There Something Special About AI In Law?

From the 3 Geeks and a Law Blog, discussion concerning the focus on AI and the law.  Is there something special about AI in law? This writer thinks not. "AI is a moving target. By the time a technology is commercialized it's no longer considered Artificial Intelligence.  Consequently, we fickle humans are consistently underwhelmed by the promise of AI even as AI fundamentally changes the world around us.  The same is happening in legal right now."

Now Interviewing--Robots

What jobs are robots likely to take over? Check out this infographic from Euroffice, based on sources from the last few years.

Queensland University of Technology To Hold Regulating Robots Symposium October 7, 2016

The Queensland University of Technology is hosting a symposium on regulating robots, called appropriately enough, the Regulating Robots Symposium. It will be held EVENT: Regulating Robots Symposium October 7, 2016. Here's a description of the event from the QUT website.

As a disruptive technology, robotics is transforming our society and our economy. Robots have been increasingly deployed in innovation as part of Australia’s “Ideas Boom”.

The Intellectual Property and Innovation Law Research Program is holding a Regulating Robots Symposium on Friday, 7 October 2016 from 8:30am to 5pm. To register please email [email protected].

There has been a mixture of hope and anxiety as to how robotics and artificial intelligence will affect jobs, education and employment. This is certainly apparent in the legal profession, In terms of transportation, there are autonomous vehicles, drones, and aquabots.

Robots have been deployed in agriculture, hospitals, and the environment. Robots increasingly feature in civilian law enforcement, and the military battlefield. This symposium focuses upon the regulation of robots, across a range of contexts. The event considers the legal, ethical, and public policy challenges posed by robotics. This event will feature an array of experts from a number of disciplines – including law, philosophy, ethics, public policy, and robotics.