After a long pause in blogging, brought about by the combination of the busiest year of my career and multiple family issues, I’ve finally had time to resume blogging about the joys and terrors of AI and algorithms. Unfortunately, while once I felt I was ahead of the wave, now I feel I am barely keeping ahead of the deluge of new content and conversations about AI and algorithms. Nonetheless, I still think I have much to offer that is not being understood about the legal ramifications of AI. That generates in me both excitement and fear.
Sadly, most professionals still have not grasped these ramifications. Most reporters don’t have a clue about the true ramifications of AI on American society. They write about the perils of ChatGBT and AI-generated social media postings, as if these are the worst America faces from the effects of AI.
Well, perhaps to them these are the worst ramifications. Not only do they risk being replaced by ChatGBT for mundane reporting jobs, like sports and police blotters, but some have experienced the anger of having their names attached as bylines to ChatGBT-generated “news” stories that no human reporter wrote, full of fluff and falsities.
As for my fellow lawyers, I still seek blank stares when I start sharing my concerns about American jurisprudence in the Age of Algorithms. Some lawyers focus is on how ChatGBT can write briefs for them, or more correctly, how ChatGBT could get them disbarred if they rely on it to write briefs for them. Frankly, I feel disdain for such lawyers, since they obviously are more concerned about easily increasing their billable hours, than providing unique and fully researched legal representation that their clients should expect. That leaves the true professionals in the legal profession who want to provide complete and contemporary legal advice, but don’t have a grasp of what their clients will soon face in as a result of AI.
Interestingly, based solely on my discussions with medical practitioners over cocktails, it seems at least a significant number of doctors have started to grasp the implications of AI on their profession. I am based in Cleveland, which is blessed with a concentration of some of the most intelligent and most advanced medical professionals in the world. Doctors in Cleveland seem to understand the benefits and risks of AI to their profession, and are actively discussing how to increase the benefits while ameliorating the risks. Since in my opinion the health industry could benefit more than most segments of the U.S. economy from AI, this is a good omen for American society. Unfortunately, if lawyers and regulators do not catch up to the AI competence of the health profession, we could face—ironically—a very unhealthy economic situation where a profit motive on the part of doctors and health organizations is unchecked by the regulators and lawyers who would otherwise protect the average American from AI-enabled exploitation to increase health professionals’ profit margins.
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