Articles Posted in Artificial Intelligence

In August 2023, Mary Smith, President of the American Bar Association (ABA), announced the creation of the ABA  Presidential Taskforce on Law and Artificial Intelligence to “bring together lawyers and judges from across the ABA to address the impact of AI on the legal profession and the practice of law.” From it’s beginning, the Taskforce has been concentrating it’s efforts on a broad array of critical AI issues of concern to ABA, including AI’s impact on the legal profession, the courts, legal education, access to justice, governance, risk management, and challenges with generative AI. During the past year, the Task Force has been active on a number of fronts, addressing these issues from various perspectives, including the preparation of it’s Task Force Report on the Impact of AI on the Practice of Law: Year 1 On the Impact of AI on the Practice of Law, released August 2024.

Quoting from the Report: “This Report addresses the critical AI issues that impact lawyers and judges in the practice of law, and provides insights and resources that will equip the legal community to effectively address and leverage these developments. Given the rapid pace of change in the AI landscape (the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released new guidance documents as this Report was being finalized), and the  need to give the AI developments the attention they deserve, the AI Task Force will continue its work in the new bar year (2024-25).

Highlights of the AI Task Force’s year [as mentioned in the Report] include:

The 2024 NY Metro Joint Cyber Security Conference will be held on September 26 from 8:30AM -5:30PM EDT,  celebrating its 11th year featuring keynotes, panels and sessions aimed at educating everyone on the various aspects of information security and technology.

Workshops featuring in-depth extended classroom-style educational courses to expand your knowledge and foster security discussions will take place virtually post-conference.  It is a collaborative event cooperatively developed, organized and sponsored by a consortium consisting of leading information security industry organizations and chapters (The New York Cyber Security Coalition).

For additional information, including conference location and conference and workshop registrations, click here

The AI Elections Accord is a voluntary agreement among leading technology companies to combat the deceptive use of AI in the 2024 elections. Recognizing the potential for AI to generate highly realistic but false content, known as deepfakes, the accord aims to protect the integrity of elections worldwide. The signatories have agreed to the following voluntary framework of principles and actions to advance seven principal goals:

  1. Prevention: Researching, investing in, and/or deploying reasonable precautions to limit risks of deliberately Deceptive AI Election Content being generated.
  2. Provenance: Attaching provenance signals to identify the origin of content where appropriate and technically feasible.

On July 17, 2024, we noticed a posting from Wisblawg which stated in part that “In recent months web developers and SEO experts have noted significant changes in Google’s Indexing practices observing a shift toward more selective indexing of web content…” Having already received other indications over the past year of impending changes in indexing practices by Google, we decided it was time to take a deeper dive into the subject.

The following is a compilation of our findings, ending with statistical information derived from an AI search using ChatGPt:

 Introduction

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

Contact Information