Legal Innovators Assemble! Great Speakers for London in November — from artificiallawyer.com

The Legal Innovators UK conference will take place on 8 + 9 November, and we are already assembling a fantastic group of speakers from across the legal innovation ecosystem.

The two-day event comes at a time of potentially massive change for the legal market and we will be bringing you engaging panels and presentations where leading experts really dig into the issues of the day, from generative AI, to the evolution of ALSPs, to law firm innovation teams in this new era for legal tech, to how empowered legal ops groups and pioneering GCs are taking inhouse teams in new directions.

Virtual law firm Scale absorbs Texas IP firm in first acquisition — from reuters.com by Sara Merken

Aug 1 (Reuters) – Virtual law firm Scale said [on 8/1/23] that it has brought on small Texas intellectual property firm Creedon in the first of what it hopes may be a series of acquisitions.

James Creedon and two other attorneys from his firm have joined Scale, a Silicon Valley-founded law firm where lawyers work entirely remotely.

Scale, which debuted in 2020, is among so-called “distributed” or virtual firms that use technology to operate without physical offices and embrace a non-traditional law firm business model.

The lawyers are leaning into AI — from alexofftherecord.com by Alex Su
Despite all the gloom and doom, corporate legal and law firms are both embracing generative AI much more quickly than previous technologies

When I first heard law firms announcing that they were adopting AI, I was skeptical. Anyone can announce a partnership or selection/piloting of an AI vendor. It’s good PR, and doesn’t mean that the firm has truly embraced AI. But when they create their own GPT-powered tool—that feels different. Setting aside whether it’s a good idea to build your own vs. buy, it certainly feels like a real investment, especially since the firms are dedicating significant internal resources to it.

Today I’ll discuss why generative AI is diffusing across law firms much more quickly than expected.

Leading your law firm into the Gen AI Era — from jordanfurlong.substack.com by Jordan Furlong
Lawyers are embracing its promise. Clients want to reap its rewards. Here are three ways your firm can respond to the immense disruption and extraordinary opportunity of Generative AI.

  1. Move fast to implement project and client pricing.
  2. Prepare to hire fewer associates and to rethink partnership.
  3. Establish a fresh approach to developing future law firm leaders.


Above resource via BrainyActs — who mentioned that the QR code takes you to this survey. Just 3 simple questions.

Q1: Agree/Disagree: Artificial Intelligence (AI) won’t replace lawyers anytime soon. Lawyers who use AI will replace lawyers who do not use AI.

Q2: Agree/Disagree: Non-lawyers should be allowed to have an ownership interest in a law firm.

Q3 Agree/Disagree: Trained non-lawyers should be allowed to advocate for parties in lower courts.


Generative AI In The Law: Where Could This All Be Headed? — from abovethelaw.com
Findings from a new Wolters Kluwer / Above the Law survey.

To get a sense of what the legal industry predicts, Above the Law and Wolters Kluwer fielded a survey of 275 professionals from March to mid-April 2023. We asked about AI’s potential effects in varied areas of the legal industry: Will it differentiate successful firms? Which practice areas could be affected the most? Could even high-level work be transformed?

 

Will one of our future learning ecosystems look like a Discord server type of service? [Christian]

 


From DSC:
Which reminds me of some graphics:

The pace has changed -- don't come onto the track in a Model T

 

From DSC:
Time will tell.

Per Jeff Maggioncalda, Coursera CEO: “This system-wide industry micro-credential program sets an innovative blueprint for the future of higher education.”

***

University Of Texas, Coursera Launch Historic Micro-credential Partnership — from forbes.com by Michael T. Nietzel

The University of Texas and Coursera, the online learning platform and a pioneer of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS), are launching a large-scale, industry-recognized micro-credential program. The collaboration was announced today in a blogpost by Coursera.

Through the new partnership, every student, faculty, and staff (and even alumni) across all nine universities in the University of Texas (UT) System will gain access to Courser’s Career Academy for no additional cost to them.

 

Navigating the Future of Learning in a Digitally-Disrupted World — from thinklearningstudio.org by Russell Cailey

Are we on the frontier of unveiling an unseen revolution in education? The hypothesis is that this quiet upheaval’s importance is far more significant than we imagine. As our world adjusts, restructures, and emerges from a year which launched an era of mass AI, so too does a new academic year dawn for many – with hope and enthusiasm about new roles, titles, or simply just a new mindset. Concealed from sight, however, I believe a significant transformative wave has started and will begin to reshape our education systems and push us into a new stage of innovative teaching practice whether we desire it or not. The risk and hope is that the quiet revolution remains outside the regulator’s and ministries’ purview, which could risk a dangerous fragmentation of education policy and practice, divorced from the actualities of the world ‘in and outside school’.

“This goal can be achieved through continued support for introducing more new areas of study, such as ‘foresight and futures’, in the high school classroom.”


Four directions for assessment redesign in the age of generative AI— from timeshighereducation.com by Julia Chen
The rise of generative AI has led universities to rethink how learning is quantified. Julia Chen offers four options for assessment redesign that can be applied across disciplines

Direction 1: From written description to multimodal explanation and application

Direction 2: From literature review alone to referencing lectures

Direction 3: From presentation of ideas to defence of views

Direction 4: From working alone to student-staff partnership




15 Inspirational Voices in the Space Between AI and Education — from jeppestricker.substack.com by Jeppe Klitgaard Stricker
Get Inspired for AI and The Future of Education.

If you are just back from vacation and still not quite sure what to do about AI, let me assure you that you are not the only one. My advice for you today is this: fill your LinkedIn-feed and/or inbox with ideas, inspirational writing and commentary on AI. This will get you up to speed quickly and is a great way to stay informed on the newest movements you need to be aware of.

My personal recommendation for you is to check out these bright people who are all very active on LinkedIn and/or have a newsletter worth paying attention to. I have kept the list fairly short – only 15 people – in order to make it as easy as possible for you to begin exploring.


Universities say AI cheats can’t be beaten, moving away from attempts to block AI (Australia) — from abc.net.au by Jake Evans

Key points:

  • Universities have warned against banning AI technologies in academia
  • Several say AI cheating in tests will be too difficult to stop, and it is more practical to change assessment methods
  • The sector says the entire nature of teaching will have to change to ensure students continue to effectively learn

aieducator.tools


Navigating A World of Generative AI: Suggestions for Educators — from nextlevellab.gse.harvard.edu by Lydia Cao and Chris Dede

Understanding the nature of generative AI is crucial for educators to navigate the evolving landscape of teaching and learning. In a new report from the Next Level Lab, Lydia Cao and Chris Dede reflect on the role of generative AI in learning and how this pushes us to reconceptualize our visions of effective education. Though there are concerns of plagiarism and replacement of human jobs, Cao and Dede argue that a more productive way forward is for educators to focus on demystifying AI, emphasizing the learning process over the final product, honoring learner agency, orchestrating multiple sources of motivation, cultivating skills that AI cannot easily replicate, and fostering intelligence augmentation (IA) through building human-AI partnerships.

Navigating A World of Generative AI: Suggestions for Educators -- by Lydia Cao and Chris Dede


20 CHATGPT PROMPTS FOR ELA TEACHERS — from classtechtips.com by Dr. Monica Burns

Have you used chatbots to save time this school year? ChatGPT and generative artificial intelligence (AI) have changed the way I think about instructional planning. Today on the blog, I have a selection of ChatGPT prompts for ELA teachers.

You can use chatbots to tackle tedious tasks, gather ideas, and even support your work to meet the needs of every student. In my recent quick reference guide published by ISTE and ASCD, Using AI Chatbots to Enhance Planning and Instruction, I explore this topic. You can also find 50 more prompts for educators in this free ebook.


Professors Craft Courses on ChatGPT With ChatGPT — from insidehighered.com by Lauren Coffey
While some institutions are banning the use of the new AI tool, others are leaning into its use and offering courses dedicated solely to navigating the new technology.

Maynard, along with Jules White at Vanderbilt University, are among a small number of professors launching courses focused solely on teaching students across disciplines to better navigate AI and ChatGPT.

The offerings go beyond institutions flexing their innovation skills—the faculty behind these courses view them as imperative to ensure students are prepared for ever-changing workforce needs.


GPT-4 can already pass freshman year at Harvard | professors need to adapt to their students’ new reality — fast — from chronicle.com by Maya Bodnick (an undergraduate at Harvard University, studying government)

A. A. A-. B. B-. Pass.

That’s a solid report card for a freshman in college, a respectable 3.57 GPA. I recently finished my freshman year at Harvard, but those grades aren’t mine — they’re GPT-4’s.

Three weeks ago, I asked seven Harvard professors and teaching assistants to grade essays written by GPT-4 in response to a prompt assigned in their class. Most of these essays were major assignments which counted for about one-quarter to one-third of students’ grades in the class. (I’ve listed the professors or preceptors for all of these classes, but some of the essays were graded by TAs.)

Here are the prompts with links to the essays, the names of instructors, and the grades each essay received…

The impact that AI is having on liberal-arts homework is indicative of the AI threat to the career fields that liberal-arts majors tend to enter. So maybe what we should really be focused on isn’t, “How do we make liberal-arts homework better?” but rather, “What are jobs going to look like over the next 10–20 years, and how do we prepare students to succeed in that world?”



The great assessment rethink — from timeshighereducation.com by
How to measure learning and protect academic integrity in the age of ChatGPT

Items from Times Higher Education re: redesigning assessment

 

Post-prison job training — hechingerreport.org by Olivia Sanchez and Tara García Mathewson

We’ve known for a long time that higher education can play a huge role in helping people who serve time in prison get back on their feet. Research shows that higher-ed attainment is directly correlated with a lower likelihood of being reincarcerated, as is stable employment.

But people getting out of prison face many obstacles in finding jobs, and lack of educational opportunities is just part of the issue. A patchwork of more than 14,000 federal, state and local laws and regulations restricts individuals who have arrest and conviction histories from getting licensed in certain fields. Here’s some of what my reporting found about how pervasive this problem is and why it matters:

 

Actors say Hollywood studios want their AI replicas — for free, forever — from theverge.com by Andrew Webster
The reveal came as SAG-AFTRA actors confirmed they were going on strike.

When asked about the proposal during the press conference, Crabtree-Ireland said that “This ‘groundbreaking’ AI proposal that they gave us yesterday, they proposed that our background performers should be able to be scanned, get one day’s pay, and their companies should own that scan, their image, their likeness and should be able to use it for the rest of eternity on any project they want, with no consent and no compensation. So if you think that’s a groundbreaking proposal, I suggest you think again.”

 

YouTube tests AI-generated quizzes on educational videos — from techcrunch.com by Lauren Forristal

YouTube tests AI-generated quizzes on educational videos

YouTube is experimenting with AI-generated quizzes on its mobile app for iOS and Android devices, which are designed to help viewers learn more about a subject featured in an educational video. The feature will also help the video-sharing platform get a better understanding of how well each video covers a certain topic.


Incorporating AI in Teaching: Practical Examples for Busy Instructors — from danielstanford.substack.com by Daniel Stanford; with thanks to Derek Bruff on LinkedIn for the resource

Since January 2023, I’ve talked with hundreds of instructors at dozens of institutions about how they might incorporate AI into their teaching. Through these conversations, I’ve noticed a few common issues:

  • Faculty and staff are overwhelmed and burned out. Even those on the cutting edge often feel they’re behind the curve.
  • It’s hard to know where to begin.
  • It can be difficult to find practical examples of AI use that are applicable across a variety of disciplines.

To help address these challenges, I’ve been working on a list of AI-infused learning activities that encourage experimentation in (relatively) small, manageable ways.


September 2023: The Secret Intelligent Beings on Campus — from stefanbauschard.substack.com by Stefan Bauschard
Many of your students this fall will be enhanced by artificial intelligence, even if they don’t look like actual cyborgs. Do you want all of them to be enhanced, or just the highest SES students?


How to report better on artificial intelligence — from cjr.org (Columbia Journalism Review) by Syash Kapoor, Hilke Schellmann, and Ari Sen

In the past few months we have been deluged with headlines about new AI tools and how much they are going to change society.

Some reporters have done amazing work holding the companies developing AI accountable, but many struggle to report on this new technology in a fair and accurate way.

We—an investigative reporter, a data journalist, and a computer scientist—have firsthand experience investigating AI. We’ve seen the tremendous potential these tools can have—but also their tremendous risks.

As their adoption grows, we believe that, soon enough, many reporters will encounter AI tools on their beat, so we wanted to put together a short guide to what we have learned.


AI

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DSC:
Something I created via Adobe Firefly (Beta version)

 


The 5 reasons L&D is going to embrace ChatGPT — from chieflearningoffice.com by Josh Bersin

Does this mean it will do away with the L&D job? Not at all — these tools give you superhuman powers to find content faster, put it in front of employees in a more useful way and more creatively craft character simulations, assessments, learning in the flow of work and more.

And it’s about time. We really haven’t had a massive innovation in L&D since the early days of the learning experience platform market, so we may be entering the most exciting era in a long time.

Let me give you the five most significant use cases I see. And more will come.


AI and Tech with Scenarios: ID Links 7/11/23 — from christytuckerlearning.com by Christy Tucker

As I read online, I bookmark resources I find interesting and useful. I share these links periodically here on my blog. This post includes links on using tech with scenarios: AI, xAPI, and VR. I’ll also share some other AI tools and links on usability, resume tips for teachers, visual language, and a scenario sample.



It’s only a matter of time before A.I. chatbots are teaching in primary schools — from cnbc.com by Mikaela Cohen

Key Points

  • Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates saying generative AI chatbots can teach kids to read in 18 months rather than years.
  • Artificial intelligence is beginning to prove that it can accelerate the impact teachers have on students and help solve a stubborn teacher shortage.
  • Chatbots backed by large language models can help students, from primary education to certification programs, self-guide through voluminous materials and tailor their education to specific learning styles [preferences].

The Rise of AI: New Rules for Super T Professionals and Next Steps for EdLeaders — from gettingsmart.com by Tom Vander Ark

Key Points

  • The rise of artificial intelligence, especially generative AI, boosts productivity in content creation–text, code, images and increasingly video.
  • Here are six preliminary conclusions about the nature of work and learning.

The Future Of Education: Embracing AI For Student Success — from forbes.com by Dr. Michael Horowitz

Unfortunately, too often attention is focused on the problems of AI—that it allows students to cheat and can undermine the value of what teachers bring to the learning equation. This viewpoint ignores the immense possibilities that AI can bring to education and across every industry.

The fact is that students have already embraced this new technology, which is neither a new story nor a surprising one in education. Leaders should accept this and understand that people, not robots, must ultimately create the path forward. It is only by deploying resources, training and policies at every level of our institutions that we can begin to realize the vast potential of what AI can offer.


AI Tools in Education: Doing Less While Learning More — from campustechnology.com by Mary Grush
A Q&A with Mark Frydenberg


Why Students & Teachers Should Get Excited about ChatGPT — from ivypanda.com with thanks to Ruth Kinloch for this resource

Table of Contents for the article at IvyPanda.com entitled Why Students & Teachers Should Get Excited about ChatGPT

Excerpt re: Uses of ChatGPT for Teachers

  • Diverse assignments.
  • Individualized approach.
  • Interesting classes.
  • Debates.
  • Critical thinking.
  • Grammar and vocabulary.
  • Homework review.

SAIL: State of Research: AI & Education — from buttondown.email by George Siemens
Information re: current AI and Learning Labs, education updates, and technology


Why ethical AI requires a future-ready and inclusive education system — from weforum.org


A specter is haunting higher education — from aiandacademia.substack.com by Bryan Alexander
Fall semester after the generative AI revolution

In this post I’d like to explore that apocalyptic model. For reasons of space, I’ll leave off analyzing student cheating motivations or questioning the entire edifice of grade-based assessment. I’ll save potential solutions for another post.

Let’s dive into the practical aspects of teaching to see why Mollick and Bogost foresee such a dire semester ahead.


Items re: Code Interpreter

Code Interpreter continues OpenAI’s long tradition of giving terrible names to things, because it might be most useful for those who do not code at all. It essentially allows the most advanced AI available, GPT-4, to upload and download information, and to write and execute programs for you in a persistent workspace. That allows the AI to do all sorts of things it couldn’t do before, and be useful in ways that were impossible with ChatGPT.

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Legal items


MISC items


 

Gen Z values education — but doesn’t think a four-year degree is the only option — from highereddive.com by Laura Spitalniak

Dive Brief:

  • The current cohort of high school students, part of Generation Z, values postsecondary education but is increasingly interested in alternatives to four-year colleges, according to a new report from ECMC Group, a nonprofit focused on student success, and Vice Media.
  • In 2023, 65% of surveyed students said they would need education beyond high school, compared to 59% pre-pandemic, the report said. But 59% said they could be successful if they don’t get a four-year degree
  • Almost half, 48%, of high schoolers said their postsecondary education would ideally take three years or less, and just over a third, 35%, said it should take two years or less.

From DSC:
And some further comments on that article:

Rather than looking to modify the traditional higher education structures for 18-year-olds fresh out of high school, the College for Adult Learners and Continuing Education will establish its own processes for the nontraditional student.

The average age of students enrolled in the Center for Distance Education is 32, and many have kids or other life responsibilities that impact their time and ability to focus on education, Seal explains.

“It’s not so much that we’re competing with other institutions [for adult learners], it’s that we’re competing with life,” Seal says. “They’re not leaving to go to another institution—they’re leaving because of life things.”


Some resources and reflections from Stephen Downes:


Online Learning Still in High Demand at Community Colleges — from insidehighered.com by Sara Weissman
Some colleges are still offering half or the majority of their classes online in response to student demand.

East Los Angeles College, the most populous campus in the California Community College system, offered 60 percent of its courses in a hybrid or online format this past spring, most of them asynchronous. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, fewer than a quarter of courses were offered online.

He said students have made their preferences clear via their enrollment trends—online course sections at the college have filled much more quickly lately than in-person courses.


Teaching: Does higher education value good teaching? — from chronicle.com by Beth McMurtrie; possible paywall but at least must have an account

Excerpt:

But the bigger question hanging over the conference was this: Do colleges actually value good teaching? On the one hand, it would seem obvious that they must. Undergraduate education is the central reason most colleges exist. How could you not value your core product?

But look below the surface and what do you see? An industry in which the majority of instructors are adjuncts who are often low-paid and unlikely to receive any sort of professional development, let alone an office in which to meet with students after class. At research universities you will find many tenure-track professors who were warned not to devote too much time to teaching before securing tenure, since scholarship is what’s rewarded. Promotion and tenure policies on many campuses, research-intensive or not, over-rely on student evaluations when it comes to judging teaching expertise or commitment. Finally, given that most doctoral programs devote a nominal amount of time to teaching students how to teach, it’s easy to see why many professors stick to how they were taught as students, whether or not those methods were effective.

 

 


From DSC:
The Bible talks about listening quite frequently. The authors ask people to listen to what is being communicated.

Proverbs 16:20
Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers,
and blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord.

Unfortunately, it often involves people NOT listening to the LORD and/or to others and, instead, going their/our own way. In my own life, things don’t go so well when I do that. I think the same is true on a more general/corporate level as well.

For example, Israel in ancient days thought and behaved this way too. Read 1 Kings and 2 Kings to see what I mean. They didn’t listen to the LORD. They didn’t listen to instruction. They thought they knew it all. They didn’t give credit to Whom credit was due. They made up their own gods and worshipped the things that they created.

The LORD wanted to bless them — and us. But they didn’t — and we still don’t — want to listen and submit to His will at times (even though His will is meant to BLESS US).

I used to see the LORD looking down from heaven, with a stern or disappointed look on His face. He was tapping His foot, and had His arms folded. I imagined Him saying, “Daniel, get your stuff together!!!” I didn’t see Him as being on my team.

Through the years He has shown me that He IS on my team and that He is active in my heart, mind, and life. He is full of grace, truth, patience, forgiveness, vulnerable love, and wisdom. He’s awesome. I love Him and His ways — but that’s taken me decades to be able to say that.

He wants what is best for us. He gave us gifts and wants us to use those gifts to serve others.

 

AI for Education Webinars — from youtube.com by Tom Barrett and others

AI for education -- a webinar series by Tom Barrett and company


Post-AI Assessment Design — from drphilippahardman.substack.com by Dr. Philippa Hardman
A simple, three-step guide on how to design assessments in a post-AI world

Excerpt:

Step 1: Write Inquiry-Based Objectives
Inquiry-based objectives focus not just on the acquisition of knowledge but also on the development of skills and behaviours, like critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration and research skills.

They do this by requiring learners not just to recall or “describe back” concepts that are delivered via text, lecture or video. Instead, inquiry-based objectives require learners to construct their own understanding through the process of investigation, analysis and questioning.

Step 1 -- Write Inquiry-Based Objectives

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Massive Disruption Now: What AI Means for Students, Educators, Administrators and Accreditation Boards
— from stefanbauschard.substack.com by Stefan Bauschard; via Will Richardson on LinkedIn
The choices many colleges and universities make regarding AI over the next 9 months will determine if they survive. The same may be true for schools.

Excerpts:

Just for a minute, consider how education would change if the following were true

  • AIs “hallucinated” less than humans
  • AIs could write in our own voices
  • AIs could accurately do math
  • AIs understood the unique academic (and eventually developmental) needs of each student and adapt instruction to that student
  • AIs could teach anything any student wanted or need to know any time of day or night
  • AIs could do this at a fraction of the cost of a human teacher or professor

Fall 2026 is three years away. Do you have a three year plan? Perhaps you should scrap it and write a new one (or at least realize that your current one cannot survive). If you run an academic institution in 2026 the same way you ran it in 2022, you might as well run it like you would have in 1920.  If you run an academic institution in 2030 (or any year when AI surpasses human intelligence) the same way you ran it in 2022, you might as well run it like you would have in 1820.  AIs will become more intelligent than us, perhaps in 10-20 years (LeCun), though there could be unanticipated breakthroughs that lower the time frame to a few years or less (Benjio); it’s just a question of when, not “if.”


On one creative use of AI — from aiandacademia.substack.com by Bryan Alexander
A new practice with pedagogical possibilities

Excerpt:

Look at those material items again. The voiceover? Written by an AI and turned into audio by software. The images? Created by human prompts in Midjourney. The music is, I think, human created. And the idea came from a discussion between a human and an AI?

How might this play out in a college or university class?

Imagine assignments which require students to craft such a video. Start from film, media studies, or computer science classes. Students work through a process:


Generative Textbooks — from opencontent.org by David Wiley

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

I continue to try to imagine ways generative AI can impact teaching and learning, including learning materials like textbooks. Earlier this week I started wondering – what if, in the future, educators didn’t write textbooks at all? What if, instead, we only wrote structured collections of highly crafted prompts? Instead of reading a static textbook in a linear fashion, the learner would use the prompts to interact with a large language model. These prompts could help learners ask for things like:

  • overviews and in-depth explanations of specific topics in a specific sequence,
  • examples that the learner finds personally relevant and interesting,
  • interactive practice – including open-ended exercises – with immediate, corrective feedback,
  • the structure of the relationships between ideas and concepts,
  • etc.

Also relevant/see:


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Generating The Future of Education with AI — from aixeducation.com

AI in Education -- An online-based conference taking place on August 5-6, 2023

Designed for K12 and Higher-Ed Educators & Administrators, this conference aims to provide a platform for educators, administrators, AI experts, students, parents, and EdTech leaders to discuss the impact of AI on education, address current challenges and potentials, share their perspectives and experiences, and explore innovative solutions. A special emphasis will be placed on including students’ voices in the conversation, highlighting their unique experiences and insights as the primary beneficiaries of these educational transformations.


How Teachers Are Using ChatGPT in Class — from edweek.org by Larry Ferlazzo

Excerpt:

The use of generative AI in K-12 settings is complex and still in its infancy. We need to consider how these tools can enhance student creativity, improve writing skills, and be transparent with students about how generative AI works so they can better understand its limitations. As with any new tech, our students will be exposed to it, and it is our task as educators to help them navigate this new territory as well-informed, curious explorers.


Japan emphasizes students’ comprehension of AI in new school guidelines — from japantimes.co.jp by Karin Kaneko; via The Rundown

Excerpt:

The education ministry has emphasized the need for students to understand artificial intelligence in new guidelines released Tuesday, setting out how generative AI can be integrated into schools and the precautions needed to address associated risks.

Students should comprehend the characteristics of AI, including its advantages and disadvantages, with the latter including personal information leakages and copyright infringement, before they use it, according to the guidelines. They explicitly state that passing off reports, essays or any other works produced by AI as one’s own is inappropriate.


AI’s Teachable Moment: How ChatGPT Is Transforming the Classroom — from cnet.com by Mark Serrels
Teachers and students are already harnessing the power of AI, with an eye toward the future.

Excerpt:

Thanks to the rapid development of artificial intelligence tools like Dall-E and ChatGPT, my brother-in-law has been wrestling with low-level anxiety: Is it a good idea to steer his son down this path when AI threatens to devalue the work of creatives? Will there be a job for someone with that skill set in 10 years? He’s unsure. But instead of burying his head in the sand, he’s doing what any tech-savvy parent would do: He’s teaching his son how to use AI.

In recent months the family has picked up subscriptions to AI services. Now, in addition to drawing and sculpting and making movies and video games, my nephew is creating the monsters of his dreams with Midjourney, a generative AI tool that uses language prompts to produce images.


The AI Dictionary for Educators — from blog.profjim.com

To bridge this knowledge gap, I decided to make a quick little dictionary of AI terms specifically tailored for educators worldwide. Initially created for my own benefit, I’ve reworked my own AI Dictionary for Educators and expanded it to help my fellow teachers embrace the advancements AI brings to education.


7 Strategies to Prepare Educators to Teach With AI — from edweek.org by Lauraine Langreo; NOTE: Behind paywall


 

Law Firms Are Recruiting More AI Experts as Clients Demand ‘More for Less’ — from bloomberg.com by Irina Anghel
Data scientists, software engineers among roles being sought | Legal services seen as vulnerable to ChatGPT-type software

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Chatbots, data scientists, software engineers. As clients demand more for less, law firms are hiring growing numbers of staff who’ve studied technology not tort law to try and stand out from their rivals.

Law firms are advertising for experts in artificial intelligence “more than ever before,” says Chris Tart-Roberts, head of the legal technology practice at Macfarlanes, describing a trend he says began about six months ago.


Legal is the second industry with the highest potential for automation

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AI Will Threaten Law Firm Jobs, But Innovators Will Thrive — from law.com

Excerpts:

What You Need to Know

  • Law firm leaders and consultants are unsure of how AI use will ultimately impact the legal workforce.
  • Consults are advising law firms and attorneys alike to adapt to the use of generative AI, viewing this as an opportunity for attorneys to learn new skills and law firms to take a look at their business models.

Split between foreseeing job cuts and opportunities to introduce new skills and additional efficiencies into the office, firm leaders and consultants remain uncertain about the impact of artificial intelligence on the legal workforce.

However, one thing is certain: law firms and attorneys need to adapt and learn how to integrate this new technology in their business models, according to consultants. 


AI Lawyer — A personal AI lawyer at your fingertips — from ailawyer.pro

AI Lawyer

From DSC:
I hope that we will see a lot more of this kind of thing!
I’m counting on it.
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Revolutionize Your Legal Education with Law School AI — from law-school-ai.vercel.app
Your Ultimate Study Partner

Are you overwhelmed by countless cases, complex legal concepts, and endless readings? Law School AI is here to help. Our cutting-edge AI chatbot is designed to provide law students with an accessible, efficient, and engaging way to learn the law. Our chatbot simplifies complex legal topics, delivers personalized study guidance, and answers your questions in real-time – making your law school journey a whole lot easier.


Job title of the future: metaverse lawyer — from technologyreview.com by Amanda Smith
Madaline Zannes’s virtual offices come with breakout rooms, an art gallery… and a bar.
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Excerpt:

Lot #651 on Somnium Space belongs to Zannes Law, a Toronto-based law firm. In this seven-level metaverse office, principal lawyer Madaline Zannes conducts private consultations with clients, meets people wandering in with legal questions, hosts conferences, and gives guest lectures. Zannes says that her metaverse office allows for a more immersive, imaginative client experience. She hired a custom metaverse builder to create the space from scratch—with breakout rooms, presentation stages, offices to rent, an art gallery, and a rooftop bar.


A Literal Generative AI Discussion: How AI Could Reshape Law — from geeklawblog.com by Greg Lambert

Excerpt:

Greg spoke with an AI guest named Justis for this episode. Justis, powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4, was able to have a natural conversation with Greg and provide insightful perspectives on the use of generative AI in the legal industry, specifically in law firms.

In the first part of their discussion, Justis gave an overview of the legal industry’s interest in and uncertainty around adopting generative AI. While many law firm leaders recognize its potential, some are unsure of how it fits into legal work or worry about risks. Justis pointed to examples of firms exploring AI and said letting lawyers experiment with the tools could help identify use cases.


Robots aren’t representing us in court but here are 7 legal tech startups transforming the legal system — from tech.eu by Cate Lawrence
Legal tech startups are stepping up to the bar, using tech such as AI, teleoperations, and apps to bring justice to more people than ever before. This increases efficiency, reduces delays, and lowers costs, expanding legal access.


Putting Humans First: Solving Real-Life Problems With Legal Innovation — from abovethelaw.com by Olga Mack
Placing the end-user at the heart of the process allows innovators to identify pain points and create solutions that directly address the unique needs and challenges individuals and businesses face.

 

101 creative ideas to use AI in education, A crowdsourced collection — from zenodo.org by Chrissi Nerantzi, Sandra Abegglen, Marianna Karatsiori, & Antonio Martínez-Arboleda (Eds.); with thanks to George Veletsianos for this resource

101 creative ideas to use AI in education, A crowdsourced collection

As an example, here’s one of the ideas from the crowdsourced collection:

Chat with anyone in the past

Chatting with Napoleon Bonaparte

 


On a somewhat related note, also see:

Merlyn Mind launches education-focused LLMs for classroom integration of generative AI — from venturebeat.com by Victor Dey

Excerpt:

Merlyn Mind, an AI-powered digital assistant platform, announced the launch of a suite of large language models (LLMs) specifically tailored for the education sector under an open-source license.

Designing courses in an age of AI — from teachinginhighered.com by Maria Andersen
Maria Andersen shares about designing courses in an age of artificial intelligence (AI) on episode 469 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.

With generative AI, we have an incredible acceleration of change happening.

Maria Andersen

 

The Rumors Were True: Thomson Reuters Acquires Casetext for $650M Cash — from lawnext.com by Bob Ambrogi

Thomson Reuters Acquires Casetext for $650M Cash

Excerpt:

“The proposed transaction will complement Thomson Reuters existing AI roadmap and builds on its recent initiatives, including a commitment to invest more than $100 million annually on AI capabilities, the development of new generative AI experiences across its product suite, as well as a new plugin with Microsoft and Microsoft 365 Copilot for legal professionals,” TR’s announcement said.

From DSC:
I post this to show how AI continues to make inroads into the legal realm — and how serious vendors are about it. I believe AI-enabled applications will eventually increase access to justice for the citizens of the United States of America.


Below is an addendum on 6/28/23 that further illustrates how serious vendors are about AI:

Databricks picks up MosaicML, an OpenAI competitor, for $1.3B — from techcrunch.com by Ingrid Lunden

Excerpt:

Databricks announced it will pay $1.3 billion to acquire MosaicML, an open source startup with neural networks expertise that has built a platform for organizations to train large language models and deploy generative AI tools based on them.

 
© 2025 | Daniel Christian