Bloomberg Law, Top Law Schools Boost AI Training as Legal Citation Errors Grow:
Incidents of AI-generated errors in legal citations have increased the pressure on law schools to teach responsible use of the technology.
The University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale law schools are among those augmenting curricula. In new or updated classes, schools are training their students to understand the AI tools’ limitations and to check their work.
“You can never give enough reminders and enough instruction to people about the fact that you cannot use AI to replace human judgment, human research, human writing skills, and a human’s job to verify whether something is actually true or not,” said William Hubbard, deputy dean of University of Chicago Law School.
The elite law schools’ program changes come after attorneys have been fined or faced sanctions for their unchecked usage of artificial intelligence. The schools are updating and expanding their offerings to better prepare young lawyers for the risks generative AI poses and to let students flex tech muscles while the stakes are low.
At Chicago, “Generative AI in Legal Practice,” “Editing, Advocacy, and AI,” and “Regulation of AI: Legal and Constitutional Issues” are examples of classes offered this fall. The law school intends to enroll 15-20 students per class.
Hubbard said professors and administrators are also trying to incorporate the tool into doctrinal classes and clinical teaching. “Some professors are embracing it more aggressively than others,” he said.
Editor’s Note: If you would like to receive a daily email with links to legal education posts on TaxProf Blog, email me here.
