changing business models

Christina Blacklaws: “We’re on the cusp of meaningful A2J change” — from legaltechnology.com by Caroline Hill

As 2024 draws to a close, we took a look at the past year and the year ahead with Christina Blacklaws, the former president of the Law Society of England and Wales who, after leaving office, has developed a career supporting businesses as a non-executive director, consultant and strategic advisor. One of those advisory roles is chair of LawtechUK, an initiative to “turbocharge” the UK’s lawtech sector, delivered by CodeBase and LegalGeek and funded by the Ministry of Justice.

For Blacklaws, one of the huge areas of potential for GenAI technology is in helping to solve the access to justice crisis and she talks through some of the exciting work being done in this space and why we’re on the cusp of meaningful change.

2024 In Legal Ops: AI, Adaptation, And What’s Next — from abovethelaw.com by The Uplevel Ops Advisory Team
Reflections on the wild ride that was 2024 and bold predictions for the new year.

The Legal Operations landscape is evolving faster than ever, and UpLevel Ops is at the forefront of this transformation. With advancements like generative AI subscriptions, custom GPT services, and value-based pricing shaking up traditional approaches, legal departments are navigating uncharted territory.
…
From revolutionary uses of AI to new strategies in outside counsel management, their insights provide a roadmap for legal teams ready to embrace the next wave of innovation.

Judges Are Using Virtual Reality Headsets in the Courtroom — from vice.com by Luis Prada

A judge in Florida has just set a precedent that might forever change the US legal system—and maybe even the global legal system—forever.
…
But now the technology has advanced to the point where the judge and jury can be almost literally in his client’s shoes.

This allows the judge to not just understand the words of his testimony, but the physical conditions of it in a much more tactile way. Whether or not this will make his case more convincing is up to the jury.

The Evolution of a Virtual Court System — from law.com by Sondra Mendelson-Toscano (behind a paywall)
“It is my prediction that the future of the court system includes a hybrid employment model for the bench.”

Shortly thereafter, the New York Office of Court Administration designed and executed a plan whereby judges were able to handle their assigned matters electronically. Such seemed like a natural progression under the circumstances, given that prior to the advent of the Coronavirus, electronic testimony was successfully utilized in many different types of proceedings in various ways (e.g. vulnerable child witnesses, interstate custody and child support, elderly material witnesses, medically disabled defendants, and incarcerated individuals).

A virtual court online resource center was created for judges, staff, and the public for information related to remote operations. Despite some initial resistance by attorneys (who argued violations of the right to confrontation, that virtual is less effective and not as persuasive, computer illiteracy, and so forth), the Unified Court System pushed forward.

OCA’s course of action proved to be effective and, eventually, attorneys and litigants enjoyed the option of appearing virtually. Lawyers could handle multiple matters from their home offices in less time than it would have taken them to drive back and forth between courthouses, thus maximizing their work day.

Parties appreciated the flexibility of appearing from home and those who were essential workers valued joining proceedings on breaks while at work. Being in court remotely alleviated the stress of having to ask for, and take off, time from work, or making arrangements to address child care issues, elder care issues, and the like. Litigants with physical disabilities and other hardships, such as lack of transportation, received an automatic accommodation without having to request one.

Microsoft partners with ABA on new pilot project to help asylum-seekers — from abajournal.com by Amanda Robert

“In an ideal world, we would get everyone an in-person attorney to represent them for the full length of their case,” says Baez, the Commission on Immigration’s director of pro bono. “But in the reality we live in, where that’s really not possible, we are trying to be thoughtful and innovative on how we engage the most volunteers to help the most people who would otherwise not be able to access any legal assistance.”

In June, the Commission on Immigration partnered with Microsoft to launch a new virtual clinic to help pro se asylum-seekers complete their asylum applications. During this clinic, which included four sessions, nearly 30 volunteers from Microsoft worked with asylum-seekers to gather necessary information and prepare their applications for submission.

How to adopt GenAI within your legal department or law practice [Bachman] + A four-part series from Artificial Lawyer re: their predictions for 2025

On 12/12/2024, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, change, changing business models, Legal operations, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, new business models, vendors, by Daniel Christian

How to adopt GenAI within your legal department or law practice — from legaldive.com by Justin Bachman
Capital spending and ROI will be top of mind for legal executives moving forward with AI legal tools in 2025. Here are some best practices.

Dive Brief:

Debate about whether to use artificial intelligence in legal practice has ended. Discussions today are focused on costs, returns and how to best incorporate the technology into departments and outside law firms, according to an expert panel of legal tech specialists.
Buyers of generative AI solutions will encounter “a lot of confusion and a lot of opacity” on pricing, with multiple commercial models, George Socha, senior vice president of brand awareness at legal tech firm Reveal, said on a recent webinar. Long-term or firm contracts are best avoided for most legal tech customers, said Lee Wielenga, chief information officer at U.S. Legal Support.
Legal executives should consider small-group pilot projects for AI tools, focused on areas where routine, mundane tasks would benefit from automation, according to the panel. Software used in a business setting typically comes with permissioning access for employees, and generative AI adoption is likely to follow similar models.

Along the lines of legaltech, also see:

Artificial Lawyer’s 2025 Predictions – Part Four — from artificiallawyer.com
Artificial Lawyer’s 2025 Predictions – Part Three — from artificiallawyer.com
Artificial Lawyer’s 2025 Predictions – Part Two — from artificiallawyer.com
Artificial Lawyer’s 2025 Predictions – Part One — from artificiallawyer.com

“OpenAI wants to pair online courses with chatbots” [Wiggers] + other items re: AI in our learning ecosytems

On 12/07/2024, in adjunct faculty, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Australia, business, career development, change, changing business models, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, education, education technology, emerging technologies, experimentation, faculty/staff, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, Google, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, new business models, online learning, Open AI, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, research, skills, society, sociology, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, the downsides of how people use tech, tools, training / L&D, trends, United States, universities, vendors, workplace, writing, youth, by Daniel Christian

What Students Are Saying About Teachers Using A.I. to Grade — from nytimes.com by The Learning Network; via Claire Zau
Teenagers and educators weigh in on a recent question from The Ethicist.

Is it unethical for teachers to use artificial intelligence to grade papers if they have forbidden their students from using it for their assignments?

That was the question a teacher asked Kwame Anthony Appiah in a recent edition of The Ethicist. We posed it to students to get their take on the debate, and asked them their thoughts on teachers using A.I. in general.

While our Student Opinion questions are usually reserved for teenagers, we also heard from a few educators about how they are — or aren’t — using A.I. in the classroom. We’ve included some of their answers, as well.

OpenAI wants to pair online courses with chatbots — from techcrunch.com by Kyle Wiggers; via James DeVaney on LinkedIn

If OpenAI has its way, the next online course you take might have a chatbot component.

Speaking at a fireside on Monday hosted by Coeus Collective, Siya Raj Purohit, a member of OpenAI’s go-to-market team for education, said that OpenAI might explore ways to let e-learning instructors create custom “GPTs” that tie into online curriculums.

“What I’m hoping is going to happen is that professors are going to create custom GPTs for the public and let people engage with content in a lifelong manner,” Purohit said. “It’s not part of the current work that we’re doing, but it’s definitely on the roadmap.”

15 Times to use AI, and 5 Not to — from oneusefulthing.org by Ethan Mollick
Notes on the Practical Wisdom of AI Use

There are several types of work where AI can be particularly useful, given the current capabilities and limitations of LLMs. Though this list is based in science, it draws even more from experience. Like any form of wisdom, using AI well requires holding opposing ideas in mind: it can be transformative yet must be approached with skepticism, powerful yet prone to subtle failures, essential for some tasks yet actively harmful for others. I also want to caveat that you shouldn’t take this list too seriously except as inspiration – you know your own situation best, and local knowledge matters more than any general principles. With all that out of the way, below are several types of tasks where AI can be especially useful, given current capabilities—and some scenarios where you should remain wary.

Learning About Google Learn About: What Educators Need To Know — from techlearning.com by Ray Bendici
Google’s experimental Learn About platform is designed to create an AI-guided learning experience

Google Learn About is a new experimental AI-driven platform available that provides digestible and in-depth knowledge about various topics, but showcases it all in an educational context. Described by Google as a “conversational learning companion,” it is essentially a Wikipedia-style chatbot/search engine, and then some.

In addition to having a variety of already-created topics and leading questions (in areas such as history, arts, culture, biology, and physics) the tool allows you to enter prompts using either text or an image. It then provides a general overview/answer, and then suggests additional questions, topics, and more to explore in regard to the initial subject.

The idea is for student use is that the AI can help guide a deeper learning process rather than just provide static answers.

What OpenAI’s PD for Teachers Does—and Doesn’t—Do — from edweek.org by Olina Banerji
What’s the first thing that teachers dipping their toes into generative artificial intelligence should do?

They should start with the basics, according to OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT and one of the world’s most prominent artificial intelligence research companies. Last month, the company launched an hour-long, self-paced online course for K-12 teachers about the definition, use, and harms of generative AI in the classroom. It was launched in collaboration with Common Sense Media, a national nonprofit that rates and reviews a wide range of digital content for its age appropriateness.

…the above article links to:

ChatGPT Foundations for K–12 Educators — from commonsense.org

This course introduces you to the basics of artificial intelligence, generative AI, ChatGPT, and how to use ChatGPT safely and effectively. From decoding the jargon to responsible use, this course will help you level up your understanding of AI and ChatGPT so that you can use tools like this safely and with a clear purpose.

Learning outcomes:

Understand what ChatGPT is and how it works.
Demonstrate ways to use ChatGPT to support your teaching practices.
Implement best practices for applying responsible AI principles in a school setting.

Takeaways From Google’s Learning in the AI Era Event — from edtechinsiders.substack.com by Sarah Morin, Alex Sarlin, and Ben Kornell
Highlights from Our Day at Google + Behind-the-Scenes Interviews Coming Soon!

NotebookLM: The Start of an AI Operating System
Google is Serious About AI and Learning
Google’s LearnLM Now Available in AI Studio
Collaboration is King
If You Give a Teacher a Ferrari

Rapid Responses to AI — from the-job.beehiiv.com by Paul Fain
Top experts call for better data and more short-term training as tech transforms jobs.

AI could displace middle-skill workers and widen the wealth gap, says landmark study, which calls for better data and more investment in continuing education to help workers make career pivots.
…
Ensuring That AI Helps Workers
Artificial intelligence has emerged as a general purpose technology with sweeping implications for the workforce and education. While it’s impossible to precisely predict the scope and timing of looming changes to the labor market, the U.S. should build its capacity to rapidly detect and respond to AI developments.
That’s the big-ticket framing of a broad new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Congress requested the study, tapping an all-star committee of experts to assess the current and future impact of AI on the workforce.

“In contemplating what the future holds, one must approach predictions with humility,” the study says…

“AI could accelerate occupational polarization,” the committee said, “by automating more nonroutine tasks and increasing the demand for elite expertise while displacing middle-skill workers.”
…
The Kicker: “The education and workforce ecosystem has a responsibility to be intentional with how we value humans in an AI-powered world and design jobs and systems around that,” says Hsieh.

AI Predators: What Schools Should Know and Do — from techlearning.com by Erik Ofgang
AI is increasingly be used by predators to connect with underage students online. Yasmin London, global online safety expert at Qoria and a former member of the New South Wales Police Force in Australia, shares steps educators can take to protect students.

The threat from AI for students goes well beyond cheating, says Yasmin London, global online safety expert at Qoria and a former member of the New South Wales Police Force in Australia.

Increasingly at U.S. schools and beyond, AI is being used by predators to manipulate children. Students are also using AI generate inappropriate images of other classmates or staff members. For a recent report, Qoria, a company that specializes in child digital safety and wellbeing products, surveyed 600 schools across North America, UK, Australia, and New Zealand.

Why We Undervalue Ideas and Overvalue Writing — from aiczar.blogspot.com by Alexander “Sasha” Sidorkin

A student submits a paper that fails to impress stylistically yet approaches a worn topic from an angle no one has tried before. The grade lands at B minus, and the student learns to be less original next time. This pattern reveals a deep bias in higher education: ideas lose to writing every time.

This bias carries serious equity implications. Students from disadvantaged backgrounds, including first-generation college students, English language learners, and those from under-resourced schools, often arrive with rich intellectual perspectives but struggle with academic writing conventions. Their ideas – shaped by unique life experiences and cultural viewpoints – get buried under red ink marking grammatical errors and awkward transitions. We systematically undervalue their intellectual contributions simply because they do not arrive in standard academic packaging.

Google Scholar’s New AI Outline Tool Explained By Its Founder — from techlearning.com by Erik Ofgang
Google Scholar PDF reader uses Gemini AI to read research papers. The AI model creates direct links to the paper’s citations and a digital outline that summarizes the different sections of the paper.

Google Scholar has entered the AI revolution. Google Scholar PDF reader now utilizes generative AI powered by Google’s Gemini AI tool to create interactive outlines of research papers and provide direct links to sources within the paper. This is designed to make reading the relevant parts of the research paper more efficient, says Anurag Acharya, who co-founded Google Scholar on November 18, 2004, twenty years ago last month.

The Four Most Powerful AI Use Cases in Instructional Design Right Now — from drphilippahardman.substack.com by Dr. Philippa Hardman
Insights from ~300 instructional designers who have taken my AI & Learning Design bootcamp this year

AI-Powered Analysis: Creating Detailed Learner Personas…
AI-Powered Design: Optimising Instructional Strategies…
AI-Powered Development & Implementation: Quality Assurance…
AI-Powered Evaluation: Predictive Impact Assessment…

How Are New AI Tools Changing ‘Learning Analytics’? — from edsurge.com by Jeffrey R. Young
For a field that has been working to learn from the data trails students leave in online systems, generative AI brings new promises — and new challenges.

In other words, with just a few simple instructions to ChatGPT, the chatbot can classify vast amounts of student work and turn it into numbers that educators can quickly analyze.

Findings from learning analytics research is also being used to help train new generative AI-powered tutoring systems.
…
Another big application is in assessment, says Pardos, the Berkeley professor. Specifically, new AI tools can be used to improve how educators measure and grade a student’s progress through course materials. The hope is that new AI tools will allow for replacing many multiple-choice exercises in online textbooks with fill-in-the-blank or essay questions.

Increasing AI Fluency Among Enterprise Employees, Senior Management & Executives — from learningguild.com by Bill Brandon

This article attempts, in these early days, to provide some specific guidelines for AI curriculum planning in enterprise organizations.

The two reports identified in the first paragraph help to answer an important question. What can enterprise L&D teams do to improve AI fluency in their organizations?

You could be surprised how many software products have added AI features. Examples (to name a few) are productivity software (Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace); customer relationship management (Salesforce and Hubspot); human resources (Workday and Talentsoft); marketing and advertising (Adobe Marketing Cloud and Hootsuite); and communication and collaboration (Slack and Zoom). Look for more under those categories in software review sites.

Reflections on “US College Closures Are Expected to Soar, Fed Research Says” [Bloomberg.com]

On 12/07/2024, in 21st century, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, assessment, business side of he, change, changing business models, colleges, community colleges, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, economics, faculty/staff, game-changing environment, higher education, ideas, law schools, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, legislatures / government / legal, liberal arts, new business models, parents/guardians, policy, reinvent, society, staying relevant, student-related, surviving, United States, universities, vendors, by Daniel Christian

US College Closures Are Expected to Soar, Fed Research Says — from bloomberg.com

Fed research created predictive model of college stress
Worst-case scenario forecasts 80 additional closures

The number of colleges that close each year is poised to significantly increase as schools contend with a slowdown in prospective students.

That’s the finding of a new working paper published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, where researchers created predictive models of schools’ financial distress using metrics like enrollment and staffing patterns, sources of revenue and liquidity data. They overlayed those models with simulations to estimate the likely increase of future closures.

Excerpt from the working paper:

We document a high degree of missing data among colleges that eventually close and show that this is a key impediment to identifying at risk institutions. We then show that modern machine learning techniques, combined with richer data, are far more effective at predicting college closures than linear probability models, and considerably more effective than existing accountability metrics. Our preferred model, which combines an off-the-shelf machine learning algorithm with the richest set of explanatory variables, can significantly improve predictive accuracy even for institutions with complete data, but is particularly helpful for predicting instances of financial distress for institutions with spotty data.

From DSC:
Questions that come to my mind here include:

Shouldn’t the public — especially those relevant parents and students — be made more aware of these types of papers and reports?
.
How would any of us like finishing up 1-3 years of school and then being told that our colleges or universities were closing, effective immediately? (This has happened many times already.) and with the demographic cliff starting to hit higher education, this will happen even more now.
.
Adding insult to injury…when we transfer to different institutions, we’re told that many of our prior credits don’t transfer — thus adding a significant amount to the overall cost of obtaining our degrees.
.
Would we not be absolutely furious to discover such communications from our prior — and new — colleges and universities?
.
Will all of these types of closures move more people to this vision here?

Relevant excerpts from Ray Schroeder’s recent articles out at insidehighered.com:

Winds of Change in Higher Ed to Become a Hurricane in 2025

A number of factors are converging to create a huge storm. Generative AI advances, massive federal policy shifts, broad societal and economic changes, and the demographic cliff combine to create uncertainty today and change tomorrow.

Higher Education in 2025: AGI Agents to Displace People

The anticipated enrollment cliff, reductions in federal and state funding, increased inflation, and dwindling public support for tuition increases will combine to put even greater pressure on university budgets.

On the positive side of things, the completion rates have been getting better:

National college completion rate ticks up to 61.1% — from highereddive.com by Natalie Schwartz
Those who started at two-year public colleges helped drive the overall increase in students completing a credential.

Dive Brief:

Completion rates ticked up to 61.1% for students who entered college in fall 2018, a 0.5 percentage-point increase compared to the previous cohort, according to data released Wednesday by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
The increase marks the highest six-year completion rate since 2007 when the clearinghouse began tracking the data. The growth was driven by fewer students stopping out of college, as well as completion gains among students who started at public two-year colleges.
“Higher completion rates are welcome news for colleges and universities still struggling to regain enrollment levels from before the pandemic,” Doug Shapiro, the research center’s executive director, said in a statement dated Wednesday.

Addendum:

Attention Please: Professors Struggle With Student Disengagement — from edsurge.com

The stakes are huge, because the concern is that maybe the social contract between students and professors is kind of breaking down. Do students believe that all this college lecturing is worth hearing? Or, will this moment force a change in the way college teaching is done?

Adapting to the future | Educause

Institutions are balancing capacity issues and rapid technological advancements—including artificial intelligence—while addressing a loss of trust in higher education.

To adapt to the future, technology and data leaders must work strategically to restore trust, prepare for policy updates, and plan for online education growth.

Hopping on the Affordability Bandwagon [Knox]

On 11/27/2024, in business side of he, change, changing business models, colleges, cost of getting a degree, higher education, parents/guardians, student-related, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

Hopping on the Affordability Bandwagon — from insidehighered.com by Liam Knox
Five selective colleges launched strikingly similar student aid initiatives last week for low- and middle-income students. What’s behind the frenzy to boost financial aid?

The announcements have come pouring in at a time when public resentment of elite institutions has reached a fever pitch, doubts about the value of college are at a historic high and the impact of the Supreme Court’s affirmative action ruling on demographics is becoming clear. And after last year’s bungled FAFSA rollout, families are warier than ever of financial aid promises.

“We know what’s going on with confidence in higher education, and one element of that is increasing cost and increasing debt levels,” said James Milliken, chancellor of the UT system.

It’s part of a broader marketing and recruitment effort to raise awareness of the financial aid resources at colleges with staggeringly high sticker prices—she calls it a “clear cost” initiative. And as more colleges expand financial aid, it creates a domino effect among peer institutions looking to compete for highly qualified applicants from lower income brackets, she said.

Tania LaViolet, director of research and innovation at the Aspen Institute

Building the lawyer of the future [Furlong]

On 11/21/2024, in career development, change, changing business models, competency-based learning/education, Emotion, ethics, law schools, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, morals/values, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Building the lawyer of the future — from jordanfurlong.substack.com by Jordan Furlong
Here’s my latest “Future Lawyer Starter Kit.” Tell me what you think.

Building upon this knowledge foundation, I suggest that future lawyers should develop the following ten human competencies (through a completely overhauled education, training, and licensing process, but that’s a topic for another day):

Acting ethically
Advocating and negotiating
Demonstrating character
Displaying empathy
Exercising judgment
Giving advice
Reasoning legally
Relating with people
Resolving conflicts
Solving problems

What DICE does in this posting will be available 24x7x365 in the future [Christian]

On 11/20/2024, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, adjunct faculty, adult learning, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business, career development, changing business models, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, distance education, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, entrepreneurship, experimentation, faculty/staff, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, internet, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, liberal arts, library / librarians, lifelong learning, MBA, microlearning, multimedia, Natural Language Processing (NLP), neurodivergent/special needs, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, personalized/customized learning, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, remote teaching and learning, skills, staying relevant, student-related, surviving, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, training / L&D, universities, vendors, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, vocational / trades, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, web-based collaboration, Web3, webinars, workplace, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
First of all, when you look at the following posting:

What Top Tech Skills Should You Learn for 2025? — from dice.com by Nick Kolakowski

…you will see that they outline which skills you should consider mastering in 2025 if you want to stay on top of the latest career opportunities. They then list more information about the skills, how you apply the skills, and WHERE to get those skills.

I assert that in the future, people will be able to see this information on a 24x7x365 basis.

Which jobs are in demand?
What skills do I need to do those jobs?
WHERE do I get/develop those skills?

And that last part (about the WHERE do I develop those skills) will pull from many different institutions, people, companies, etc.

BUT PEOPLE are the key! Oftentimes, we need to — and prefer to — learn with others!

It’s The End Of The Legal Industry As We Know It — from artificiallawyer.com by Richard Tromans

It’s the end of the legal industry as we know it and I feel fine. I really do.

The legal industry as we know it is already over. The seismic event that triggered this evolutionary shift happened in November 2022. There’s no going back to a pre-genAI world. Change, incremental or otherwise, will be unstoppable. The only question is: at what pace will this change happen?

It’s clear that substantive change at the heart of the legal economy may take a long time – and we should never underestimate the challenge of overturning decades of deeply embedded cultural practices – but, at least it has begun.

AI: The New Legal Powerhouse — Why Lawyers Should Befriend The Machine To Stay Ahead — from today.westlaw.com

(October 24, 2024) – Jeremy Glaser and Sharzaad Borna of Mintz discuss waves of change in the legal profession brought on by AI, in areas such as billing, the work of support staff and junior associates, and ethics.

The dual nature of AI — excitement and fear
AI is evolving at lightning speed, sparking both wonder and worry. As it transforms industries and our daily lives, we are caught between the thrill of innovation and the jitters of uncertainty. Will AI elevate the human experience or just leave us in the dust? How will it impact our careers, privacy and sense of security?

Just as we witnessed with the rise of the internet — and later, social media — AI is poised to redefine how we work and live, bringing a mix of optimism and apprehension. While we grapple with AI’s implications, our clients expect us to lead the charge in leveraging it for their benefit.

However, this shift also means more competition for fewer entry-level jobs. Law schools will play a key role in helping students become more marketable by offering courses on AI tools and technology. Graduates with AI literacy will have an edge over their peers, as firms increasingly value associates who can collaborate effectively with AI tools.

Will YOU use ChatGPT voice mode to lie to your family? Brainyacts #244 — from thebrainyacts.beehiiv.com by Sam Douthit, Aristotle Jones, and Derek Warzel.

Small Law’s Secret Weapon: AI Courtroom Mock Battles — this excerpt is by Brainacts author Josh Kubicki
As many of you know, this semester my law students have the opportunity to write the lead memo for this newsletter, each tackling issues that they believe are both timely and intriguing for our readers. This week’s essay presents a fascinating experiment conducted by three students who explored how small law firms might leverage ChatGPT in a safe, effective manner. They set up ChatGPT to simulate a mock courtroom, even assigning it the persona of a Seventh Circuit Court judge to stage a courtroom dialogue. It’s an insightful take on the how adaptable technology like ChatGPT can offer unique advantages to smaller practices. They share other ideas as well. Enjoy!

The following excerpt was written by Sam Douthit, Aristotle Jones, and Derek Warzel.

One exciting example is a “Courtroom Persona AI” tool, which could let solo practitioners simulate mock trials and practice arguments with AI that mimics specific judges, local courtroom customs, or procedural quirks. Small firms, with their deep understanding of local courts and judicial styles, could take full advantage of this tool to prepare more accurate and relevant arguments. Unlike big firms that have to spread resources across jurisdictions, solo and small firms could use this AI-driven feedback to tailor their strategies closely to local court dynamics, making their preparations sharper and more strategic. Plus, not all solo or small firms have someone to practice with or bounce their ideas off of. For these practitioners, it’s a chance to level up their trial preparation without needing large teams or costly mock trials, gaining a practical edge where it counts most.

Some lawyers have already started to test this out, like the mock trial tested out here. One oversimplified and quick way to try this out is using the ChatGPT app.

The Human in AI-Assisted Dispute Resolution — from jdsupra.com by Epiq

Accountability for Legal Outputs
AI is set to replace some of the dispute resolution work formerly done by lawyers. This work includes summarising documents, drafting legal contracts and filings, using generative AI to produce arbitration submissions for an oral hearing, and, in the not-too-distant future, ingesting transcripts from hearings and comparing them to the documentary record to spot inconsistencies.

As Pendell put it, “There’s quite a bit of lawyering going on there.” So, what’s left for humans?

The common feature in all those examples is that humans must make the judgement call. Lawyers won’t just turn over a first draft of an AI-generated contract or filing to another party or court. The driving factor is that law is still a regulated profession, and regulators will hold humans accountable.

The idea that young lawyers must do routine, menial work as a rite of passage needs to be updated. Today’s AI tools put lawyers at the top of an accountability chain, allowing them to practice law using judgement and strategy as they supervise the work of AI.

Small law firms embracing AI as they move away from hourly billing — from legalfutures.co.uk by Neil Rose

Small law firms have embraced artificial intelligence (AI), with document drafting or automation the most popular application, according to new research.

The survey also found expectations of a continued move away from hourly billing to fixed fees.

Legal technology provider Clio commissioned UK-specific research from Censuswide as an adjunct to its annual US-focused Legal Trends report, polling 500 solicitors, 82% of whom worked at firms with 20 lawyers or fewer.

Some 96% of them reported that their firms have adopted AI into their processes in some way – 56% of them said it was widespread or universal – while 62% anticipated an increase in AI usage over the next 12 months.

? Introducing ChatGPT search ?

ChatGPT can now search the web in a much better way than before so you get fast, timely answers with links to relevant web sources.https://t.co/7yilNgqH9T pic.twitter.com/z8mJWS8J9c

— OpenAI (@OpenAI) October 31, 2024

ChatGPT Search just dropped, so of course, Google is dead. (Just kidding… probably ?)

But is it any good?

A ChatGPT Search vs. Perplexity vs. Google ?:

— Nathan Lands — Lore.com (@NathanLands) November 1, 2024

Google’s worst nightmare just became reality — from aidisruptor.ai by Alex McFarland
OpenAI just launched an all-out assault on traditional search engines.

Google’s worst nightmare just became reality. OpenAI didn’t just add search to ChatGPT – they’ve launched an all-out assault on traditional search engines.

It’s the beginning of the end for search as we know it.

Let’s be clear about what’s happening: OpenAI is fundamentally changing how we’ll interact with information online. While Google has spent 25 years optimizing for ad revenue and delivering pages of blue links, OpenAI is building what users actually need – instant, synthesized answers from current sources.

The rollout is calculated and aggressive: ChatGPT Plus and Team subscribers get immediate access, followed by Enterprise and Education users in weeks, and free users in the coming months. This staged approach is about systematically dismantling Google’s search dominance.

Big day for desktops.

Advanced Voice is now available in the macOS and Windows desktop apps.https://t.co/mv4ACwIhzA pic.twitter.com/HbwXbN9NkD

— OpenAI (@OpenAI) October 30, 2024

We’re starting to roll out the ability to search through your chat history on ChatGPT web.

Now you can quickly & easily bring up a chat to reference, or pick up a chat where you left off. pic.twitter.com/YVAOUpFvzJ

— OpenAI (@OpenAI) October 29, 2024

Open for AI: India Tech Leaders Build AI Factories for Economic Transformation — from blogs.nvidia.com
Yotta Data Services, Tata Communications, E2E Networks and Netweb are among the providers building and offering NVIDIA-accelerated infrastructure and software, with deployments expected to double by year’s end.

College sports are out of hand! [Christian]

On 10/29/2024, in business, business side of he, change, changing business models, colleges, Daniel S. Christian, higher education, parents/guardians, student-related, trends, United States, universities, vendors, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
The following reflections were catalyzed by Jeff Selingo’s Next posting from 10/22, specifically the item:

Student fees for athletics, dark money in college sports, and why this all matters to every student, every college.

All of this has big risks for institutions. But whenever I talk to faculty and administrators on campuses about this, many will wave me away and say, “Well, I’m not a college sports fan” or “We’re a Division III school, so that all this doesn’t impact us.”

Nothing is further from the truth, as we explored on a recent episode of the Future U. podcast, where we welcomed in Matt Brown, editor of the Extra Points newsletter, which looks at academic and financial issues in college sports.

As we learned, despite the siloed nature of higher ed, everything is connected to athletics: research, academics, market position. Institutions can rise and fall on the backs of their athletics programs – and we’re not talking about wins and losses, but real budget dollars.

And if you want to know about the impact on students, look no further than the news out of Clemson this week. It is following several other universities in adopting an “athletics fee”: $300 a year. It won’t be the last.

Give a listen to this episode of Future U. if you want to catch up quick on this complicated subject, and while you’re at it, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Clemson approves new athletics fee for students. Here’s what we know — from sports.yahoo.com by Chapel Fowler
How much are student fees at other schools?

That’s true in the state of South Carolina, when comparing the annual fees of Clemson ($300) and USC ($172) to Coastal Carolina ($2,090). And it holds up nationally, too.

DC: Having played a sport at the NCAA Div I collegiate level, I can say sports are out of hand in our country. Increasingly, ALL students are being billed new athletic-related fees. One wonders…in the future, how much will future Ss/parents pay per yr? https://t.co/P64plKVdH2

— Daniel S. Christian (@dchristian5) October 22, 2024

From DSC:
The Bible talks a lot about idols….and I can’t help but wonder, have sports become an idol in our nation?

Don’t get me wrong. Sports can and should be fun for us to play. I played many an hour of sports in my youth and I occasionally play some sports these days. Plus, sports are excellent for helping us keep in shape and take care of our bodies. Sports can help us connect with others and make some fun/good memories with our friends.

So there’s much good to playing sports. But have we elevated sports to places they were never meant to be? To roles they were never meant to play?

AI should significantly help with Access to Justice [Sonday] + other AI/legaltech-related items

On 10/22/2024, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, change, changing business models, emerging technologies, law schools, Legal operations, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, new business models, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, tools, trends, UK, United States, vendors, by Daniel Christian

DC: I’m really hoping that a variety of AI-based tools, technologies, and services will significantly help with our Access to Justice (#A2J) issues here in America. So this article, per Kristen Sonday at Thomson Reuters — caught my eye.

***

AI for Legal Aid: How to empower clients in need — from thomsonreuters.com by Kristen Sonday
In this second part of this series, we look at how AI-driven technologies can empower those legal aid clients who may be most in need

It’s hard to overstate the impact that artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to have on helping low-income individuals achieve better access to justice. And for those legal services organizations (LSOs) that serve on the front lines, too often without sufficient funding, staff, or technology, AI presents perhaps their best opportunity to close the justice gap. With the ability of AI-driven tools to streamline agency operations, minimize administrative work, more effectively reallocate talent, and allow LSOs to more effectively service clients, the implementation of these tools is essential.

Innovative LSOs leading the way

Already many innovative LSOs are taking the lead, utilizing new technology to complete tasks from complex analysis to AI-driven legal research. Here are two compelling examples of how AI is already helping LSOs empower low-income clients in need.

#A2J #justice #tools #vendors #society #legal #lawfirms #AI #legaltech #legalresearch

Criminal charges, even those that are eligible for simple, free expungement, can prevent someone from obtaining housing or employment. This is a simple barrier to overcome if only help is available.
…
AI offers the capacity to provide quick, accurate information to a vast audience, particularly to those in urgent need. AI can also help reduce the burden on our legal staff…

A legal tech executive explains how AI will fully change the way lawyers work — from legaldive.com by Justin Bachman
A senior executive with ContractPodAi discusses how legal AI poses economic benefits for in-house departments and disruption risks for law firm billing models.

Everything you thought you knew about being a lawyer is about to change.

Legal Dive spoke with Podinic about the transformative nature of AI, including the financial risks to lawyers’ billing models and how it will force general counsel and chief legal officers to consider how they’ll use the time AI is expected to free up for the lawyers on their teams when they no longer have to do administrative tasks and low-level work.

Legaltech will augment lawyers’ capabilities but not replace them, says GlobalData — from globaldata.com

Traditionally, law firms have been wary of adopting technologies that could compromise data privacy and legal accuracy; however, attitudes are changing
Despite concerns about technology replacing humans in the legal sector, legaltech is more likely to augment the legal profession than replace it entirely
Generative AI will accelerate digital transformation in the legal sector

Fresh Voices on Legal Tech with Megan Ma — from legaltalknetwork.com by Dennis Kennedy, Tom Mighell, and Dr. Megan Ma

Episode Notes
As genAI continues to edge into all facets of our lives, Dr. Megan Ma has been exploring integrations for this technology in legal, but, more importantly, how it can help lawyers and law students hone their legal skills. Dennis and Tom talk with Dr. Ma about her work and career path and many of the latest developments in legal tech. They take a deep dive into a variety of burgeoning AI tools and trends, and Dr. Ma discusses how her interdisciplinary mindset has helped her develop a unique perspective on the possibilities for AI in the legal profession and beyond.

Legal tech disruption: Doing it on purpose — from localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Thomson Reuters looks at the role that a legal technology roadmap can play in improving the operations of in-house legal departments.

Disruption in the legal industry remains a powerful force – from the death of the billable hour to robot lawyers and generative AI. Leaders are facing weighty issues that demand long-term, visionary thinking and that will change the way legal professionals do their jobs.

With half of in-house legal departments increasing their use of legal technology tools, many GCs are taking the initiative to address continued, growing expectations from the business for systems that can make operations better. How can you prepare for a tech or process change so that people come along with you, rather than living in constant fire-fighting mode?

New Study Reveals Keys to Re-Engaging the 41.9 Million Americans with Some College, but No Credential [StraighterLine]

On 10/17/2024, in adult learning, career development, change, changing business models, colleges, communications, community colleges, cost of getting a degree, engagement / engaging students, higher education, learning ecosystem, society, student-related, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

New Study Reveals Keys to Re-Engaging the 41.9 Million Americans with Some College, but No Credential — from globenewswire.com by StraighterLine
Students’ Perception of the Value of a Degree Drops 50% After Stopping Out

Key Findings Included:

Financial Barriers Remain Significant. 58% of respondents note their current financial situation would not allow them to afford college tuition and related expenses. 72% cite affordable tuition or cost of the program as a necessary factor for re-enrollment.
Shifting Perceptions of Degree Value. While 84% of respondents believed they needed a degree to achieve their professional goals before first enrolling, only 34% still hold that belief.
Trust Deficit in Higher Education. Only 42% of respondents agree that colleges and universities are trustworthy, underscoring a trust deficit that institutions must address.
Key Motivators for Re-enrollment. Salary improvement (53%), personal goals (44%), and career change (38%) are the top motivators for potential re-enrollment.
Predicting Readiness to Re-enroll. The top three factors predicting adult learners’ readiness to re-enroll are mental resilience and routine readiness, positive opinions on institutional trustworthiness and communication, and belief in the value of a degree.
Communication Preferences. 86% of respondents prefer email communication when inquiring about programs, with minimal interest in chatbots (6%).

Average Student Loan Debt — from educationdata.org by Melanie Hanson; last updated August 16, 2024

Report Highlights.

The total average student loan debt (including private loan debt) may be as high as $40,681.
The average federal student loan debt is $37,853 per borrower.
Outstanding private student loan debt totals $128.8 billion.
The average student borrows over $30,000 to pursue a bachelor’s degree.
A total of 42.8 million borrowers have federal student loan debt.
It may take borrowers close to 20 years to pay off their student loans.

From DSC:
In other words, we are approaching the end of the line in terms of following the status quo within higher education. Institutions of traditional higher education can no longer increase their cost of tuition by significantly more than the rate of inflation. Increasingly, K-12 students (and families) are looking for other pathways and alternatives. Higher ed better stop trying to change around the edges…they need new, more cost-effective business models as well as being able to be much more responsive in terms of their curricula.

Learning Ecosystems

Building the lawyer of the future [Furlong]

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