Here’s
to
the
crazy
ones.
The
misfits.
The
rebels.
The
round
pegs
in
the
square
holes.
The
ones
who
see
things
differently.
–
Steve
Jobs,
Apple’s
“Think
Different”
1997
Ad
This
past
weekend,
the
ninth
annual
community
sponsored
MacStock
Conference
was
held
in
a
Chicago
suburb.
MacStock
is
a
grassroots
gathering
for Apple
enthusiasts.
While
it’s
not
a
legal
conference
per
se,
it
does
have
lots
of
content
relevant
to
lawyers
and
legal
professionals.
Thinking
Differently
About
AI
While
most
lawyers
think
of
AI
as
a
glorified
research
assistant,
a
presentation
at
this
year’s
conference
proved
that
we
may
be
missing
the
real
opportunity:
using
AI
as
a
creative
partner.
This
point
was
brought
home
in
a
Friday
presentation
by
Mike
Schmitz.
Schmitz
is
a
young,
bespectacled,
and
well-known
content
creator
and
productivity
expert.
His
talk
was
entitled
Think
Different:
Using
AI
as
Your
Creative
Copilot.
I
have
to
admit.
When
I
saw
the
title,
I
thought
great,
another
productivity
guru
is
going
to
tell
us
the
same
old
shit
about
AI,
efficiency,
automation,
and
cost
savings.
Indeed,
particularly
in
legal
circles,
AI
is
frequently
referred
to
as
a
“co-pilot,”
a
sort
of
virtual
assistant
whose
main
use
is
to
automate
certain
tasks
like
retrieving
information
and
summarizing
information.
It
can’t
be
used
for
more
sophisticated
stuff
because
it
hallucinates
and
gets
stuff
wrong.
In
addition,
without
appropriate
guidance,
AI
can
create
AI
slop,
material
that
anyone
with
half
a
brain
can
see
came
not
from
a
human
but
from
a
bot.
The
overall
result
is
a
belief
that
AI
can’t
be
used
to
augment
and
enhance
creativity.
But
when
Schmitz
took
the
stage
wearing
a
simple
black
T-shirt
that
said
“Create
Every
Day”
on
the
front
and
started
his
talk
by
showing
the
famous
Apple
“Think
Different”
commercial
from
1997,
I
suspected
this
was
indeed
going
to
be
different.
Schmitz’s
view
is
that
the
belief
that
AI
can
only
do
mundane
tasks
because
it’s
not
totally
reliable
is
myopic
and
limiting.
His
thesis
is
that
the
real
value
of
AI
is
in
fact
its
creative
power.
And
the
fact
that
it
gets
stuff
occasionally
wrong
ignores
that
producing
incorrect
options
is
really
part
of
the
creative
process.
Schmitz
believes
we
need
to
think
about
AI
use
more
broadly.
Differently:
just
as
Jobs
challenged
conventional
thinking
about
technology,
lawyers
need
to
fundamentally
rethink
their
relationship
with
AI.
Schmitz
told
us
we
should
be
thinking
about
AI
not
just
as
a
way
to
get
work
done
more
efficiently
or
to
automate
an
end
product
but
as
a
tool
to
produce
higher
quality
work.
AI
can,
in
fact,
give
us
superpowers
that
make
it
easier
to
crank
out
content
and
augment
our
creative
processes.
Using
AI
to
Enhance
Creativity
Schmitz
gave
several
ways
he
uses
AI
to
enhance
his
creative
process,
some
of
which
are
well
known
but
some
were
new,
at
least
to
me.
Here’s
a
list
of
his
suggestions
that
have
relevance
to
legal.
1.
Using
AI
to
generate
topic
ideas
and
content.
For
lawyers,
it
could
be
ideas
for
a
marketing
pitch,
a
blog
post,
a
motion,
or
a
strategy.
Schmitz
suggested
role
playing
with
an
AI
tool.
For
example,
making
it
play
the
role
of
a
potential
client
with
an
issue
and
then
asking
the
tool
what
questions
it
would
have
for
you
as
a
lawyer.
2.
Getting
suggestions
for
social
posts.
For
example,
if
you
want
to
get
your
name
out
as
having
a
certain
area
of
legal
expertise,
you
could
ask
for
help
with
social
posts
demonstrating
that
expertise.
Or
to
post
something
you
had
written.
Of
course,
you
need
to
tell
the
tool
who
your
audience
is
and
what
you
want
from
it.
When
I
thought
about
this
afterwards,
it
dawned
on
me
that
the
mere
thinking
through
who
my
audience
is
and
what
I
want
them
to
do
was
revealing.
3.
Arguing
with
AI.
One
intriguing
suggestion
is
to
actually
argue
with
AI.
Take
a
position
on
some
issue
and
ask
it
to
argue
with
the
validity
of
that
position.
You
could
then
debate
it
back
and
forth
to
flush
out
good
and
bad
arguments.
Great
idea
for
lawyers
and
legal
professionals.
In
fact,
I
tried
it
out
after
the
talk
and
used
it
to
draft
a
forthcoming
post.
(Stay
tuned.)
4.
Using
it
as
a
conversational
partner.
I
had
a
client
who
was
fond
of
saying
let’s
be
careful
that
we
do
not
end
up
in
the
closet
talking
to
ourselves
too
much.
Ideas
in
our
heads
often
need
to
be
said
out
loud
to
someone
who
can
kick
the
tires
and
make
us
think.
AI
can
play
that
role
when
the
senior
partner
isn’t
around.
ChatGPT
has
this
conversational
feature;
Schmitz
suggested
an
app
called
VoicePal.
I
tried
it
and
it
appears
much
more
robust
and
geared
toward
helping
create
content.
5.
Use
it
to
repurpose
material.
Often,
we
want
to
take
something
we
have
done
in
the
past
and
then
use
it
for
another
purpose.
I
do
this
fairly
often
and
dread
it.
AI
takes
away
a
pain
point.
6.
Using
it
to
prepare
for
anything.
You
can
prompt
the
tool
by
telling
it
something
like:
you
are
my
client
who
has
a
certain
kind
of
problem.
I
am
meeting
with
my
actual
client
for
the
first
time.
What
questions
will
they
ask
me?
Or
how
about
this:
I
am
meeting
a
potential
client
for
the
first
time,
or
my
client
is
being
deposed.
What
questions
will
they
ask
me
or
will
the
client
be
asked?
How
about
this
for
a
prompt:
I
am
going
to
MacStock
for
the
first
time
in
years.
I
am
a
lawyer
and
a
legal
tech
writer.
What
questions
will
many
of
the
attendees
ask
me
about
at
networking
events
once
I
tell
them
my
background?
Schmitz
also
suggested
using
AI
to
help
create
your
brand
(and
yes,
lawyers
need
to
brand
themselves)
and
somewhat
surprisingly
to
create
video
content.
The
Real
Point
Of
course,
all
of
these
ideas
are
just
starting
points.
Much
of
what
is
produced
in
the
use
of
the
tools
can
be
obvious,
off
target,
or
just
plain
wrong.
But
AI
is
a
way
to
jump
start
your
creative
process.
(When
I
asked
about
the
questions
I
might
be
asked
by
MacStock
attendees,
it
gave
me
most
of
what
I
would
expect.
It
did
give
me
one
I
didn’t
expect
and
was
actually
asked
in
a
podcast
interview
at
the
conference.)
And
that’s
the
point.
As
humans,
we
don’t
just
create
a
masterpiece
off
the
top
of
our
heads.
We
work
through
things.
We
try
stuff
out.
We
reject
parts
and
accept
parts.
AI
can
help.
Even
the
idea
that
AI
can
be
used
to
augment
and
enhance
the
creative
process
in
and
of
itself
can
force
us
to
be
more
creative
in
how
and
for
what
we
use
the
tool.
And
Those
Hallucinations?
And
oh
yeah,
those
hallucinations
that
everyone
fears
and
thinks
of
as
a
barrier?
To
Schmitz,
they
are
part
of
the
creative
process.
You
come
up
with
things
and
then
you
throw
out
the
ones
that
are
wrong
or
don’t
make
sense.
So,
let’s
start
thinking
of
AI
as
the
key
to
creative
content,
not
the
barrier.
Think
differently.
Here
is
a
link
to
the
materials
and
apps
Schmitz
referenced.
Stephen
Embry
is
a
lawyer,
speaker,
blogger
and
writer.
He
publishes TechLaw
Crossroads,
a
blog
devoted
to
the
examination
of
the
tension
between
technology,
the
law,
and
the
practice
of
law.