AI and legal matters continue to tightly intertwine as evident from this week’s developments. Of particular interest are DLA Piper’s client coaching and Microsoft’s stance on potential copyright lawsuits.
DLA Piper has been assisting their client, Sam Altman of OpenAI, with insights on how to properly engage with Congress and other legislative players; a collaboration that Politico has documented here. Notably, DLA Piper’s enthusiasm about AI has most likely been catalysed by their adoption of OpenAI’s GPT-4 language model. They intend to use this tool to develop an AI legal assistant.
Microsoft, meanwhile, has shown a seemingly unwavering confidence in the face of potential copyright lawsuits due to their use of Copilot AI tools. These generative AI systems are featured in Office and other software products. According to a Bloomberg Law report, Microsoft maintains their commitment to defend their customers from any copyright-related lawsuits that result from these tools.
Generative AI in legal technology, on the other hand, is suffering not from poorly developed tools, but rather a dearth of usable training data. Isha Marathe delved into this predicament in a detailed analysis for Legaltech News. These limitations are imposed by data owners who restrict the application of their legal data.
Parallel to this, there’s been another significant discussion going on in D.C.: a private forum on how to regulate AI. Leading tech figures such as Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and Sundar Pichai joined lawmakers including Sen. Chuck Schumer to discuss topics ranging from the potential need for an independent regulatory body for AI to ensuring the United States stays ahead of other countries, including China. The Associated Press provided coverage on this development.
It appears that tech companies and governments are modifying their approaches when it comes to AI. As Mustafa Suleyman, AI entrepreneur and co-founder of the AI product DeepMind, puts it in an interview with The New York Times: “Tech companies are meaningfully engaging, and governments are starting to get proactive.”
Suleyman is also advocating for increased domestic regulation of artificial intelligence whilst urging for international influence in AI regulations. More on his thoughts and proposals can be found in his new book, ‘The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the 21st Century’s Greatest Dilemma‘.