Updating LinkedIn
A small newsletter on legaltech
AI
The FTC is requesting comments on the proposed consent agreement for DoNotPay; submissions due by end-of-day October 30, 2024. [Federal Register notice | Regulations.gov comment page]
The expert witness in a trial was recently scolded by the judge in the matter over the expert’s use of Microsoft CoPilot for lost-value calculations without verifying the results [Ars Technica | ABA Journal ($)]
The AI Law Librarians Blog launched an AI Prompt Library for Law last month
Parents in Massachusetts are suing officials of their son’s high school for penalizing him over his use of a GenAI product to write a school essay [Gizmodo | Docket (removed from Mass. state court)]
From Wired ($): “Millions of People Are Using Abusive AI ‘Nudify’ Bots on Telegram”
“In a recent study evaluating how chatbots make loan suggestions for mortgage applications, researchers at Pennsylvania’s Lehigh University found something stark: there was clear racial bias at play. With 6,000 sample loan applications based on data from the 2022 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, the chatbots recommended denials for more Black applicants than identical white counterparts. They also recommended Black applicants be given higher interest rates, and labeled Black and Hispanic borrowers as ‘riskier.’” [Utah News Dispatch | Study]
Blockchain/Digital Currency
Residents of a small Texas town are suing the operators of a Bitcoin mine over nuisance claims, arguing that noise pollution caused by the fans used in the facility is directly causing health problems
Miscellaneous
From WKRN-Nashville, TN: “On Tuesday, Metro Council deferred the Metro Nashville Police Department’s (MNPD’s) request to receive outdoor surveillance video camera feeds from commercial businesses to assist criminal investigations”
The California Supreme Court has issued an administrative order to allow a California-specific bar exam, including new topics in employment law, family law, and estate planning/trusts/probate; the Court declined to all admission through reciprocity for lawyers from other jurisdictions, as well as rejecting a proposal for a portfolio and supervised practice alternative to the bar exam [Administrative Order | Law.com ($) | ABA Journal ($)]
Long Reads
Bick, A., Blandin, A. and Deming, D.J., 2024. The Rapid Adoption of Generative AI (No. w32966). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://www.nber.org/papers/w32966