Erin Burke presented at the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence on November 12-13, 2015 on issues related to AI and the workforce. She discussed how technology has long been replacing tasks that require physical labor from lawyers, but AI is now able to replace tasks that require mental labor through tools like computational law and simulated reasoning. However, Burke argued that legal jobs are not doomed because AI will help lawyers take on more complex cases and new roles like "lawyer engineers" will be needed to train and evaluate AI systems. While the legal profession is resistant to change, Burke believes the public sector is fertile ground for AI adoption given needs for consistency, limited budgets, and similar problems across cases.
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Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence: Panel Discussion on AI Work Forces Issues
1. AI AND
WORKFORCE
ERIN M. BURKE, J.D.
NOVEMBER 12-13, 2015
ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
2. PANEL 1 DISCUSSION: WORKFORCE ISSUES
AI'S IMPACT ON GOVERNMENT AND
PUBLIC SECTOR LAWYER JOBS
▸Brawn v. Brain discomfort
▸Technology has been long replacing lawyering brawn (e.g.
filing, case retrieval, document review), but now forms of
AI are offering to replace brains (e.g. computational law,
simulated reasoning, settlement analytics)
3. PANEL 1 DISCUSSION: WORKFORCE ISSUES
AI'S IMPACT ON GOVERNMENT AND
PUBLIC SECTOR LAWYER JOBS
▸Is this the end of lawyer's work?
▸No, my prognosis for legal jobs is rather optimistic.
▸First, a welcomed, nearing end to "garden variety" case work,
creating opportunities for lawyers to take on more challenging
and complex cases (that will then further train AI). There will
always be something unprecedented.
▸Second, new job creation for "lawyer engineers" who will train
AI and evaluate AI's performance in law.
▸AI may be the end of the paralegal role.
4. PANEL 1 DISCUSSION: WORKFORCE ISSUES
AI'S IMPACT ON GOVERNMENT AND
PUBLIC SECTOR LAWYER JOBS
▸Will we see a radically different profession soon?
▸Prognosis: pessimistic. Lawyers are notoriously resistant to technology and change. A
critical mass of lawyer-meets-technophile has yet to develop. Lots of lawyers; lots of
engineers.
▸I'm starting small at Fordham University (pre-law students engaging in Watson, Big Data
Symposia, Computer Science courses) and encouraging others in education to do so too.
▸Public Sector and Government is fertile ground for change, though.
▸Landscape: High volume + need for consistency + similar problems + limited budget.
▸Solution: To achieve above effectively, limit human involvement in the execution of a human-
designed process.
▸Conclusion: progress requires either internal embrace or external disruption. My bet is on the
latter (an easy bet because it is already happening).