Artificial Intelligence has become part of the reality at 海角视频 Salmon P. Chase College of Law, both in instruction and policy.
Consideration of the ramifications of Artificial Intelligence, or AI, at Chase began almost two years ago. It began with an initial course on Law and Artificial Intelligence, with others added and AI issues integrated into existing courses. Simultaneously, concerns arose and were addressed to minimize the opportunity for some students to hide what they had not learned or should have done on their own.
鈥淭he arrival and inevitable growth of AI in law schools and the legal profession warrants careful planning coupled with humble agility,鈥 Dean Judith Daar explains. 鈥淎 core service that lawyers deliver is the accumulation, analysis and presentation of information, tasks arguably performed by generative artificial intelligence systems. Now is the time for law schools to embrace these large learning models for their power to increase access to justice, improve efficiency in the profession and expand connections within the rule of law. We must educate our students in the optimal ethical use of these powerful tools so they can serve tomorrow鈥檚 clients with distinction.
For students, the ethical issues are part of comprehending substantive knowledge.
鈥淭here are several ethical implications surrounding a lawyer's use of AI, which is why it is crucial that students learn to be responsible and ethical consumers of AI (after they learn the foundational skills necessary to practice law, such as legal analysis and legal writing, without relying upon AI),鈥 says Danielle Lewis, director of trial and appellate advocacy programs, who has written and spoken on AI issues in practice. 鈥淟aw students should be aware and wary of the limitations of generative AI, including its ability to 鈥榟allucinate,鈥 or to provide false information. There are also significant confidentiality concerns involved with sharing any client information with an AI program.鈥
Both the initial AI course and another this academic year delve into the key issues of core usage and ethics.
In Law and Artificial Intelligence, students explore the impact of AI in such areas as criminal justice, torts and commerce, and in the general practice of law. There is attention to understanding the ethical, legal and technological challenges ahead when they enter practice and AI is more prevalent.
In a new course, Artificial Intelligence, Technology and Social Justice, students learn how to use AI to benefit social justice and access to justice, and how to avoid traps of racial, gender and other biases that can be learned into AI.
On the bad side of AI in law schools is a concern that some students could use it to cheat.
鈥淥ne concern is that some students could be tempted to rely upon generative AI programs to assist them with fundamental lawyering skills, such as reading, writing and legal analysis, instead of learning to perform those crucial skills without assistance,鈥 Ms. Lewis says. 鈥淲ithout developing those skills independently of generative AI programs, law students will not be fully prepared to enter the practice of law.鈥
In an early attempt to thwart any temptation to cheat, the Chase faculty strengthened the student honor code prohibitions on plagiarism and academic dishonesty to specifically prohibit use of AI, unless allowed by a professor for a legitimate purpose.
鈥淭he faculty looked at our policies on academic integrity and decided that while they would apply to AI just as much as cutting-and-pasting from the Internet would, the potential for AI to go beyond 鈥榖orrowing鈥 a paragraph here and there made it important to specifically address the issue,鈥 says Associate Dean and Professor Lawrence Rosenthal, who oversees academic programs and honor code compliance.
Whether for good or bad, AI is now as much a part of law school as torts and contracts.
