Articles Posted in Artificial Intelligence

Legal citators are crucial tools in legal research, ensuring that legal professionals can verify whether cases and statutes remain valid and authoritative. Traditionally, this market has been dominated by Shepard’s from LexisNexis and KeyCite from Westlaw, with Bloomberg Law also offering a citator called BCite. Recently, the introduction of AI-powered citators, such as vLex’s Cert and Paxton AI’s Citator, marks a significant advancement in this field. This introduction explores these new AI citators, comparing and contrasting them with traditional ones.

TRADITIONAL LEGAL RESEARCH CITATORS:

  1. Shepard’s (LexisNexis)

The internet, a vast tapestry of information and connection, stands on the cusp of a transformative era. Artificial intelligence (AI), with its ability to analyze, learn, and adapt, is poised to usher in a fundamental change in how we experience the digital world. This article will delve into the multifaceted impact of AI on the internet’s future, exploring both the potential benefits and challenges. While most observations will be general, a specific paragraph will be devoted to law libraries

Faster and more efficient data transmission:

AI-powered networks can transmit data more quickly and efficiently, which could lead to faster download and upload speeds and reduced latency.

On June I attended a CLE webinar, AI in Criminal Justice: Automated Decision-making Tools and Technology, From Policing to Corrections, sponsored by the Civil Rights and Social Justice Section of the American Bar Association. Below is a brief description of topics covered and a list of useful resources for those interested in pursuing these topics in greater detail:

Panelists discussed automated decision-making tools used by law enforcement, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, and corrections officials.  They explained a panoply of tools, including genealogical DNA investigations, predictive policing technologies, risk assessment algorithms and facial recognition technology.  The panel offered perspectives on the purported benefits of the tools, and the potential harms of the tools, especially adverse racial impacts. In addition, the panel  discussed new technologies and other tools now available to defense counsel to help level the playing field with the resources available to prosecutors.

Panelists

Although retired as an active law librarian, I try to keep up with current developments by maintaining memberships in AALL, SLA, ABA, and maintaining contacts with friends currently active in the profession. I also have been publishing articles on the Criminal Law Library Blog since 2007 on various subjects, including those related to law, law librarians, and artificial intelligence.

I am grateful to have been able to maintain all of these relationships through the years and hope the below article will help my professional colleagues realize the potential of AI as a powerful ally. In my view, AI has the potential to revolutionize the services provided by law librarians through various means including those outlined below.

  1. Enhanced Legal Research

From the ABA Science and Technology Section:

The Science and Technology Section will be holding a webinar, Responsible Generative AI Usage for Attorneys, on Tuesday July 9, 2024, 1-2pm E.T. the webinar  is designed to introduce attorneys to one of the most powerful tools available to attorneys: generative artificial intelligence. We’re all aware of the opportunities and pitfalls that A.I. presents to attorneys. This discussion will help you understand how to responsibly use A.I. to further your practice, whether you work in transactional law or litigation, all while complying with your ethical obligations and avoiding mishaps.

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Law libraries are undergoing a transformation fueled by Artificial Intelligence (AI). While AI isn’t replacing librarians, it’s becoming a powerful tool that’s changing how legal research is conducted and how libraries serve their patrons.

The history of artificial intelligence in law libraries is a fascinating journey marked by technological evolution, legal industry demands, and the gradual integration of advanced tools to support legal research, information management, and decision-making processes. Here’s a historical overview of this subject:

Early Beginnings and Development

The United States has an important lead in the development of artificial intelligence that is crucial to the country’s economy and national security, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said at the American Bar Association’s 39th National Institute on White Collar Crime in San Francisco. “The Justice Department’s first job is to protect that lead and to protect our intellectual property,”… . According to Garland, “the Justice Department just will not tolerate theft of trade secrets in the area of artificial intelligence.”

From the ABA announcement:

During a fireside chat with Kenneth A. Polite Jr., former assistant attorney general for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, Garland announced that the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California had unsealed an indictment against a Chinese national who is charged with stealing AI-related intellectual property and trade secrets from Google.Garland said AI and other evolving technologies have “great promise and the risk of great harm … including algorithmic discrimination that AI can foster and the way in which it can accelerate the cyberattacks that are happening daily, even ‘minutely,’ on our companies, on our law firms, on our departments of the government and on our military.”

Eyewitness accounts, once considered a gold standard, have faced increasing scrutiny due to their susceptibility to memory errors and biases. Forensic evidence, while highly valuable, comes with its own set of limitations, such as the time-consuming nature of analysis and the potential for contamination.

Enter the age of technology, which has drastically altered the way law enforcement approaches suspect identification. Innovations in data collection, processing, and analysis have paved the way for faster and more accurate identification techniques. The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) technology has proven particularly transformative, revolutionizing the field of criminal investigations.

Eyewitness identification remains a cornerstone of criminal justice, despite its well-documented weaknesses. Human memory is fallible, susceptible to stress, suggestion, and bias. Artificial intelligence (AI) offers a potential revolution in this domain, but its impact is a double-edged sword.

Microsoft has sponsored and published a valuable collection of essays on the future of AI written by a  group of experts, with specialties encompassing a broad spectrum—spanning the fields of business, economics, education, engineering, healthcare, history, law, mathematics, medicine, mental health, psychology, and the sciences—to explore the capabilities of GPT-4 before its public release and provide their insightful reflections” on the future of AI. The collection includes an Introduction, Reflections on AI and the Future of Human Flourishing. by Eric Horvitz, Chief Scientist at Microsoft.

Experts who participated  in this project were asked to consider the following two questions when preparing their essays:

How might this technology and its successors contribute to human flourishing?

Between December 3, 2023, and January 3, 2024, LexisNexis Legal and Professional conducted a survey across 266 Managing Partners and other leaders at American Law 200 and other large law firms. Nearly a third of the executives surveyed indicated their firms had a dedicated budget for generative AI for 2024 and almost 90% indicated they expect their investment in generative AI to increase over the next five years. “Findings include results from 114 executives across 68 Am Law 200 firms, 102 executives across 79 other  large law firms, and 50 executives across 44 Fortune 1000 companies. Firms recognize the potential return on their investment, with 47% believing generative AI technology will decrease costs and 30% believing it will increase revenue. Nearly half of executives are exploring new business opportunities made possible by the technology (47%).” Surveys were conducted in English via the Forsta  survey platform.

For more details regarding survey findings,  Click here  to view the Executive Summary (an overview),  Findings (Full Survey Results), an Appendix, and a discussion of the methodology.

 

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