Friday, March 16, 2018

A special issue of the University of Toronto Law Journal has just been published, focusing on "Artificial Intelligence, Technology, and the Law" (Vol. 68, No. supplement 1, January 2018).

The contributions to this special issue of the UTLJ are based on articles originally presented at the conference "Artificial Intelligence, Technology, and the Law" hosted by the Centre for Innovation Law and Policy on March 25, 2017.

Some of the speakers discussed the kinds of tasks that machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP) can perform, when used to conduct legal research, to identify biases and discrepancies at the doctrinal level and in the performance of lawyers and judges, and to facilitate access to justice for those who cannot readily afford legal services. Other speakers considered the challenges that algorithms based on ML and NLP pose to democratic conceptions of legal authority. Taken together, the articles offered a range of views on the prospects and perils of AI for the practice of law and for the legal system as a whole.

The issue includes an introduction by Prof. Simon Stern, "Introduction: Artificial intelligence, technology, and the law," and an article by Profs. Benjamin Alarie, Anthony Niblett, Albert H. Yoon, "How artificial intelligence will affect the practice of law." Other contributors include Mireille Hildebrandt, Brian Sheppard, Frank Pasquale, Glyn Cashwell, and Paul Gowder.

See the full issue on the University of Toronto Press website.