Lawyer Ex Machina: Goodbye, 2023
[Editor's note: This is my last newsletter of the year. Happy holidays and I hope to have more news for you in January 2024]
AI
The EU has reached an agreement that will allow final passage of the AI Act [ Financial Times ($) | Politico | Axios]
Students and Prof. Robert Brauneis have created an AI Litigation database that includes suits involving algorithmic decision-making, facial recognition systems, generative AI and more
Michael Cohen's lawyer filed a brief that a NY federal judge found contains 3 fictitious cases; the judge is requiring attorney David M. Schwartz to provide the cases or show cause why he should not be sanctioned by December 19th [Ars Technica | Politico | Docket ]
A Democratic candidate for a Congressional seat in Pennsylvania is using an 'AI volunteer' to perform phone outreach to potential voters
Some large law firms, like DLA Piper, are performing algorithmic audits to "crash-test" AI models [Bloomberg Law ($) | JD Journal]
From Bloomberg [$]: There are reports of a preliminary investigation by the Federal Trade Commission into Microsoft's investment in OpenAI
Judges in England and Wales have received the green light to use GenAI, including ChatGPT, in writing rulings, with some caveats (such as NOT using it for legal research) [Judicial Office document: "Artificial Intelligence - Guidance for Judicial Office holders"]
Blockchain/Digital Currency
"A '24/7, 365-days-a-year financial colonoscopy'" - one description of the enormous levels of monitoring of and data sharing by Biance to federal regulators [Ars Technica | CoinTelegraph | Wired ($)]
Data Privacy
A four-month extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act has been added to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2024, while efforts for a full renewal has gotten bogged down [The American Prospect | Foreign Policy | Politico | The Hill | CNN]
The FTC has issues a warning about cybersecurity risks of using QR codes
One system to rule them all - the Free Law Project is kicking off an effort "to design and prototype an open access and open source court e-filing system" that would provide "full and free public access" to court filings and dockets
Long Reads
Talk Justice podcast (41:40) - Experts discuss building tools, running experiments and sharing information to help legal professionals better understand uses for generative artificial intelligence (AI) in the legal field on this episode of Talk Justice. Host Cat Moon is joined by Sam Harden, program manager at Pro Bono Net, and Shellie Reid, manager of Legal Services National Technology Assistance Project.
Lord Justice Colin Birss, Deputy Head of Civil Justice, "Is a focus on data the way to improve access to justice in a multifaceted world?" The 24th Competition Law Association Burrell Lecture, Gray’s Inn,Thursday, 30 November 2023