Portlandia
had
a
bit
about
Northwest
hipsters
putting
a
bird
on
every
knick
knack
up
for
sale.
“Put
a
bird
on
it”
involved
shoving
birds
onto
everything
from
tote
bags
to
homemade
pillows.
I
think
about
that
bit
every
time
another
vendor
announces
that
they’ve
“put
an
AI
on”
their
product.
I
suspect
this
will
come
up
a
lot
this
week.
Legal
technology’s
annual
pilgrimage
to
the
New
York
Hilton
Midtown
commences
with
Legalweek
2025
welcoming
a
motley
crew
of
attorneys
and
tech
vendors.
This
year’s
congregation,
boasting
over
6,000
attendees
from
34
countries,
is
set
to
navigate
the
warrens
of
the
Hilton’s
conference
space.
Or
at
least
at
one
point
it
was
34
countries.
If
folks
stayed
home
rather
than
risk
this
administration
accidentally
sending
them
to
a
prison
in
El
Salvador,
that’s
understandable.
Doug
Austin
of
eDiscovery
Today
helpfully
creates
word
clouds
based
on
conference
agendas
and
found
that
“AI”
appears
a
staggering
250
times
—
108
more
than
last
year.
That’s
before
he
added
in
similar
terms
like
GenAI.
The
point
is
that
you’re
not
listening
to
someone
talk
about
AI,
then
you’re
probably
in
the
wrong
conference
room.
The
only
exception
might
be
the
keynote
address
tomorrow
morning
when
Rob
Lowe
takes
the
stage
to
discuss
“The
Art
of
Reinvention:
Turning
Setbacks
into
Stepping
Stones.”
Perhaps
it’s
an
ominous
reference
to
the
soon-to-be
displaced
junior
lawyers
performing
all
the
tasks
AI
can
reliably
handle.
But
he’s
probably
just
going
to
talk
about
the
time
he
mistakenly
ate
a
carb.
To
be
fair
to
the
vendors,
they
have
to
inject
AI
into
their
products
or
risk
falling
behind
competitors
who
do.
We
make
fun
of
AI’s
legal
industry
failings
and
question
its
long-term
potential,
but
just
because
its
not
replacing
lawyers
and
judges
—
no
matter
what
the
dumbest
man
in
the
world
thinks
—
that
doesn’t
detract
from
its
value
in
performing
the
smaller
tasks.
It’s
that
infamous
Apple
story
about
Steve
Jobs
challenging
the
team
to
shave
seconds
off
the
boot
up
time
because
that
translates
to
years
saved
on
a
grand
scale…
just
because
AI
won’t
argue
a
case
before
the
Supreme
Court
doesn’t
make
it
any
less
useful
for
its
ability
to
summarize
a
mass
of
transcripts
into
actionable
work
product.
So
now
let’s
brave
the
rainy
Midtown
weather
and
start
checking
out
some
AI.
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
on Twitter or
Bluesky
if
you’re
interested
in
law,
politics,
and
a
healthy
dose
of
college
sports
news.
Joe
also
serves
as
a
Managing
Director
at
RPN
Executive
Search.