Within the span of five days recently in Chicago, I attended two somewhat different conferences, and at each, I found evidence that we are moving the ball forward on developing and implementing practical applications for generative AI in law. This comes as a refreshing contrast against the backdrop of an AI hype cycle that seemed to have reached a plateau.
The first conference, SubTech, highlighted substantive work aimed at the future of AI in law. With attendees mainly from academia, the emphasis was on short presentations filled with groundbreaking themes and forward-looking discussions. Notably, Megan Ma from Stanford Law School introduced an open source M&A Negotiation Simulator, while Daniel Schwarcz discussed his research on AI’s impact on human legal analysis (SSRN paper). The visionaries shared their work targeting futuristic applications, steering from present challenges to pave way for impactful advancements.
Keynote speaker Bridget Mary McCormack emphasized “radical collaboration” and “radical transparency” in addressing access to justice issues. She underscored the need for technology to drive change, akin to pioneering disruptors like Uber who did not ask for permission but rather created new paradigms.
The second conference I attended was the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) annual convention. Here, law librarians demonstrated their evolving roles in testing, recommending, and deploying legal technology. Their central role in the future of AI in law is mirrored by their active engagement in driving adoption and innovation. A survey showed that 89.1% of librarians are now involved in testing technology products, debunking the notion that generative AI would make them obsolete (survey).
Keynote speaker Cory Doctorow pointed out the critical role librarians will play in combating the degradation of technology platforms by ensuring quality and integrity in legal tech solutions. Doctorow praised the proactive steps being taken by librarians to address these challenges and reiterated their significant influence on future innovations.
The amalgamation of insights and initiatives presented at these conferences rekindled a sense of optimism about the transformative capabilities of AI in the legal sector. These conferences underscored not just the potential of AI in law, but also the substantive efforts being invested to realize this future.
You can read more about the detailed proceedings of these conferences here.