Often,
learning
about
the
law
feels
more
like
a
history
class
than
preparation
to
be
a
lawyer.
The
average
1L
spends
hours
upon
hours
memorizing
the
dates
and
facts
of
cases
that
aren’t
even
good
law
anymore
—
otherwise
known
as
studying
Constitutional
law.
To
contrast,
students
taking
classes
on
the
legal
field’s
rapid
adoption
of
AI
have
to
keep
up
with
changing
companies,
developing
technology
and
expectations
of
privacy
as
they
incorporate
AI
in
to
their
toolkit.
It
is
hard
to
look
for
experienced
thinkers
in
novel
fields,
but
the
students
at
Columbia
lucked
in
to
getting
a
Biglaw
partner
to
school
them
on
AI.
Law.com
has
coverage:
This
spring,
Columbia
Law
School
introduced
a
new
course
titled
“Law
of
Artificial
Intelligence,”
taught
by
Michel
Paradis,
a
Steptoe
partner
with
a
Ph.D.
in
computational
linguistics.
Paradis
told
Legaltech
News
he
wanted
to
remedy
an
emerging
gap
between
AI
systems’
increasing
relevance
as
a
substantive
legal
area
and
a
general
lack
of
knowledge
among
the
legal
profession
about
how
they
work.“People
become
lawyers
typically
because
they’re
smart
and
they
don’t
like
math.
…
When
you
get
these
technical
questions
that
can
really
matter
to
the
outcome
of
a
case,
it
helps
to
really
know
what’s
going
on
under
the
hood,”
he
said.
“There
was
this
real
gap
between
a
basic
competence
in
what’s
going
on
technically
and
how
that
should
impact
the
legal
issues
involved.”
And
the
impact
is
real
—
an
assistant
US
attorney
recently
resigned
after
a
federal
judge
threatened
to
sanction
him
and
his
office
for
repeated
AI
misuse
and
misquoting
holdings.
And
on
the
other
side
of
the
gavel,
even
judges
are
getting
caught
using
AI
to
help
write
their
opinions
without
knowing
to
check
their
work
before
they
submitted
everything.
Besides
covering
what
not
to
do,
the
course
will
focus
on
regulatory
responses
to
AI
adoption
and
what
increased
use
of
AI
means
for
intellectual
property.
I
know
I
dunked
on
Conlaw
earlier,
but
the
relationship
between
AI
adoption
and
Article
1
Section
8
is
definitely
worth
hashing
out
in
a
classroom.
Much
of
the
push
against
IP
protections
comes
from
billionaires,
it’s
an
open
question
whether
constitutional
protections
are
strong
enough
to
bear
the
force
of
financial
interests
attacking
them
at
every
turn.
Sounds
like
a
fun
course!
As
long
as
AI
is
here,
law
schools
should
be
doing
their
best
to
prepare
students
for
using
it
in
their
work
product
if
they
choose
to
do
so.
Columbia
Law
School
Gets
Technical
With
New
AI
Course
Led
by
Steptoe
Partner
[Law.com]
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s
.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boat
builder
who
is
learning
to
swim
and
is
interested
in
rhetoric,
Spinozists
and
humor.
Getting
back
in
to
cycling
wouldn’t
hurt
either.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected]
and
by
tweet
at @WritesForRent.