by
Tayfun
Cokun
–
Anadolu
Agency/Getty
Images)
Usually
after
a
tech
show
closes
down,
I
provide
my
takeaways
and
impressions
based
on
what
I
witnessed
and
the
sessions
and
events
I
attended.
With
a
show
of
the
size
and
with
the
huge
number
of
sessions
of
CES,
I
could
attend
only
a
smidgen
of
what
went
on.
But
there
were
some
consistent
themes
and
trends
throughout
this
year’s
show
that
were
hard
to
miss.
And
these
trends
will
ultimately
impact
legal
in
perhaps
in
ways
yet
to
be
seen.
So,
here
are
my
top
10
impressions.
My
Top
10
Here’s
what
impressed
me
the
most
this
year:
-
The
major
themes
this
year:
AI,
AI,
and
AI.
It
was
everywhere,
in
every
session,
in
every
product,
in
every
discussion.
One
could
wonder
whether
there
was
really
anything
else
going
on
or,
for
that
matter,
whether
there
are
any
AI
challenges.
AI
was
the
underlying
tool
that
made
almost
everything
else
discussed
actually
work.
So,
the
real
question
is
what
are
the
top
AI
trends? -
The
top
three
AI
areas
emphasized
at
CES
were
agentic
AI
(which
I
wrote
about),
wearables
(which
I
also
wrote
about),
and
robotics.
But
again,
all
of
the
discussions
in
these
areas
were
premised
on
the
use
of
AI
and
GenAI.
Even
when
the
talk
was
ostensibly
about
other
things,
it
was
still
more
or
less
happy
AI
talk. -
Some
of
the
other
things
that
were
mentioned
from
time
to
time
in
the
keynotes,
the
general
sessions,
and
on
the
exhibit
floor
were
things
like
digital
health,
physical
AI,
autonomous
vehicles,
and
the
like.
But
again,
it
was
clear
that
the
touted
advancements
in
all
these
areas
also
hinged
on
underlying
AI.
It
permeated
everything. -
For
that
matter,
even
the
robotics
envisioned
by
most
CES
vendors
requires
AI
and
more
specifically
GenAI
to
do
what
was
being
promoted.
So,
robotics
too
was
really
about
AI.
By
the
way,
would
it
be
possible
to
have
a
grown-up
robotics
discussion
that
doesn’t
include
cute
little
R2D2
type
robots
like
we’ve
seen
for
at
least
five
years?
Practical
robotics
is
not
lifelike
puppies
or
even
two
robots
fighting
(I
kid
you
not).
It’s
about
what
robotics
can
achieve
in
industry,
in
cars,
and
maybe
someday
in
the
home.
After
all,
when
self-driving
cars
were
first
envisioned,
a
human-like
robot
was
pictured
as
the
driver.
But
that’s
not
what
happened.
The
same
is
true
with
today’s
robots:
let’s
focus
on
what
they
do
instead
of
robots
mimicking
nice
little
people. -
Equally
important
to
what
was
talked
about
was
what
wasn’t.
What
wasn’t
mentioned
much
was
the
infrastructure
challenges
that
all
this
AI
all
the
time
may
pose.
(I
know,
talking
about
challenges
is
a
real
downer
when
you’re
trying
to
sell
your
wares,
which
is
all
most
vendors
were
doing.)
What
also
was
not
talked
about
much
was
cybersecurity
threats.
(Another
downer
when
you’re
trying
to
sell
products
that
create
data
that
could
be
used
for
nefarious
purposes
by
the
bad
guys.) -
And
when
infrastructure
was
mentioned,
it
was
more
or
less
in
passing
references
to
the
need
to
make
computing
capacity
more
efficient
to
thereby
reduce
the
power
and
water-cooling
needs.
Even
then,
the
context
was
little
more
than
a
“look
what
we
can
do”
pep
talk. -
There
was,
however,
one
telling
comment
about
the
coming
infrastructure
crisis
offered
by
Bill
Briggs,
the
CTO
of
Deloitte,
in
a
panel
discussion
of
tech
trends:
“It’s
all
about
how
to
use
the
limited
resources
we
have
to
get
the
maximum
benefits.”
That’s
a
message
we
don’t
hear
often:
there
are
real
infrastructure
limits,
and
we
may
have
to
make
some
tough
choices
along
the
way.
It’s
something
many
vendors
want
to
ignore.
But
as
Melissa
Rogozinski
and
I
recently
discussed,
if
the
infrastructure
won’t
support
all
this
AI,
then
the
whole
AI
business
model
so
thoroughly
integrated
into
everything
will
be
threatened. -
On
a
similar
point,
it’s
clear
that
the
consumer
market
is
pushing
the
idea
of
personal
AI
assistants
that
can
do
more
and
more,
that
“see
what
we
see
and
hear
what
we
hear,”
as
it
was
frequently
put.
The
conference-long
mantra
was
that
these
assistants
will
make
life
so
much
easier
for
us.
That
they
will
give
us
time
to
be
with
others
and
thereby
forge
deeper
and
more
meaningful
relationships.
This
was
accompanied
by
promotional
videos
of
beautiful
homes
with
bleached
wood
floors,
views
of
the
ocean,
two
or
three
blond-headed
kids,
a
successful
spouse,
and
a
golden
retriever.
But
the
reality
is
that
we
are
already
seeing
too
much
reliance
on
AI
to
replace
human
relationships.
But
that’s
not
what
selling
these
products
is
about. -
As
for
the
show
itself,
I
haven’t
seen
the
numbers,
but
it
sure
seemed
like
there
were
more
attendees
than
ever.
Tremendous
energy
across
multiple
subjects,
venues,
and
nationalities.
Of
course,
the
logistics
were
as
challenging
as
ever.
But
the
CES
staff
and
the
hotel
and
convention
center
workers
consistently
went
out
of
their
way
to
be
cheerfully
helpful,
to
engage
with
attendees,
and
make
the
difficulty
in
getting
around
more
manageable.
Bus
and
mass
transit
were
top
notch. -
But
the
show
was
not
without
a
few
frustrations.
Chief
among
these
was
the
WiFi.
Or
the
lack
thereof.
Good
Lord,
it’s
a
tech
conference
but
there
was
no
free
WiFi
that
could
be
consistently
used.
Or
if
there
was,
it
wasn’t
publicized.
That
meant
you
had
to
find
individual
WiFi
networks
offered
by
vendors
or,
in
my
case,
one
that
only
worked
in
the
media
rooms.
And
by
the
way,
if
you
wanted
to
use
the
WiFi
network
in
the
Convention
Center?
A
meager
$179.
A
day.
I
shudder
to
think
what
it
charged
for
AV
tools.
But
for
all
the
challenges
of
putting
on
a
show
for
over
150,000
people,
CES
succeeds
better
than
expected
and
does
it
consistently.
Legal
tech
could
learn
a
lot
from
CES
about
how
to
put
on
a
major
event.
As
could
vendors.
And
it’s
nice
to
hear
other
voices.
But
what’s
in
it
for
legal?
What’s
In
It
for
Legal
I
have
already
written
several
articles
about
the
impact
of
what
I
learned
at
CES
on
the
legal
ecosystem.
Suffice
it
to
say,
it’s
nice
to
get
out
of
our
echo
chamber
and
hear
what
tech
in
general
is
doing.
Afterall,
legal
tech
is
still
tech
and
how
consumer
tech
is
developing
and
where
it
is
headed
is
going
to
be
impactful.
Yes,
lots
of
what
you
see
and
hear
at
CES
is
marketing
wishful
thinking
that
will
never
happen.
But
it
stems
from
the
kind
of
thinking
that
expands
horizons
and
exposes
the
trends
that
will
drive
tech
in
the
future.
And
exposure
to
the
rest
of
the
tech
world
better
enables
us
to
ask
hard
questions.
It
helps
keep
us
from
deluding
ourselves
and
relying
too
much
to
those
in
our
echo
chamber.
To
quote
Cory
Doctorow
in
his
recent
book,
Enshittification,
“it’s
very
easy
to
talk
yourself
into
a
sincere
belief
that
you
are
right
and
everyone
else
is
wrong.”
And
it’s
clear
where
tech
is
going.
Agentic
AI.
Personal
assistants.
Wearables.
Robots
that
function
autonomously.
All
these
things
will
impact
how
we
work
in
legal.
What
the
profession
looks
like.
How
we
practice.
What
legal
issues
will
we
need
to
confront.
I’ve
commented
often
about
the
lack
of
lawyers
at
legal
tech
conferences
and
why
that’s
not
good.
The
same
is
true
here:
want
to
know
where
legal
tech
is
going?
Look
at
where
consumer
tech
is
going
because
that’s
where
we
will
go
too.
So
legal,
want
to
prepare
for
the
future?
Get
out
in
the
real
world.
And
by
the
way,
your
clients?
They
may
be
the
ones
driving
and
using
all
this
new
technology.
As
long
as
I
can
keep
up,
I’ll
be
at
CES,
cursing
the
difficulties
in
getting
around
but
all
the
while
marveling
at
my
good
fortune
to
live
in
today’s
world.
See
you
next
year,
CES.
And
thanks
for
always
expanding
my
horizon.
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.