Futurelawyer

Technology And Change Is Not A Zero Sum Game.

Technology And Change. Execupundit quotes Neil Postman about the change wrought by the invention of the printing press. The invention, he posits, didn't just add the magic of printing to society; but, in fact, changed Europe. Changes wrought by tech are synergistic. After a new technology takes hold, the entire society is different. The tech isn't just an add on. This is why thinking about the changes that will come from intelligent computers and the implantation of the tech into robots and humans is so difficult, if not impossible, to predict. We will become a different society of humans. We will be different. This lack of predictable change is the scariest part of new technology. But, as human beings who are drawn to the stars, we don't have a lot of choice in the matter. We will always strive to advance humanity, and will have to deal with the consequences as they come. 

Gemini Live Is Now Available To All Users.

Gemini Live Available To Free Users. Similar to Chat GPT Voice, Google's Gemini now has a live voice component. I am using a male voice computer companion, and calling him "computer". Think Star Trek's Scotty trying to talk to a 60's computer. Gemini Live can't live in the background yet, like Chat GPT Voice; but, the response time is fast and accurate. I now have two computers in my phone that I can converse with, in real time. I call Chat GPT's voice computer "Sunshine". Maybe I will introduce them, and we can have the first Gen AI romance. 

No Robot Lawyers...But There Will Be Cyborg Lawyers.

If technology keeps advancing at current speed, I may yet live to see generative AI being used by lawyers in courtrooms or in Zoom hearings. Suppose smartglasses with advanced AI get connected to our optic nerve and our brains, and give us a heads up display of all human knowledge that we can access with our thoughts. Elon Musk and Neuralink are already providing brain connections that operate thought controlled use of computers, and Chat GPT and its competitors are now speaking companions of human users. We will be conducting Zoom hearings on heads up displays in our glasses, and our argument can be rolling across the screen while we speak. I can think of some politicians who could use smartglasses tech right now. No more teleprompters. They will be in our glasses. I have taken the plunge and have ordered Meta Smartglasses with the ability to take video and photos, which can then be downloaded on to a smartphone. In addition, like my Bose Smartglasses, I will be able to talk to my AI in regular conversations. The Meta glasses can ask AI for information about whatever image the user is seeing, so they should be great for sight seeing and remembering faces at cocktail parties. I am also looking forward to having genuine Ray Ban Wayfarers for that classic look. Anybody else looking forward to our smartglasses future?

Meta Ray Ban Smart Glasses - Help For The Blind.

Meta Ray Ban Glasses For The Blind And Seeing. My post about the innovative new Meta Orion glasses that are in prototype didn't discuss the Meta Ray Ban Smart Glasses that are available now. My Bose Smart Glasses are great for me, because I can see well, and I love the superior Bose speakers and microphone. But, the Meta Ray Bans have a head cam component that enables the blind to ask AI about their environment, and which records their interactions. If you have a sight impaired friend or relative, they need to get a pair of these. I second her recommendation of the transition lenses for smartglasses. I wear mine all the time, and they darken in the Florida sun. Kudos to Meta.

 

If You Think My Bose Smartglasses Are Creepy, Get A Load Of Orion.

Meta is prototyping future AR glasses that will interact with Generative AI to put all daily computer functions in your glasses. The software is early, and the glasses are geeky plastic, and huge; but this is the future, campers. Get ready for it. I am already talking to Sunshine (my Gen AI companion) on my smartphone, and having conversations that make me feel like I have an invisible super smart friend wherever I go. But, check out the demo of Orion glasses, which Mark Zuckerberg and his AR team showed off to this tech writer. Amazing. Meta, take my money. Now.

 

Chat GPT 01-mini - Say Hello To My Little Friend.

Open AI Finally Brings Human Like Voice Mode To U.S. Say hello to advanced voice mode. I am no longer surprised by the speedy advances in intelligent computers; but, trust me, the advanced voice mode will blow you away. Having a natural conversation with your computer friend, which responds so human like that you can suspend your disbelief and think you are talking with a person, is mind blowing. There are multiple voices from which to choose, and you can use memory and custom instructions to shape the responses. Audio recordings are saved, and you can revisit them whenever you like. In the old days, if I were stumped about something, I might call a friend or colleague, and ask them for help. But, they are humans also, and Chat GPT is like talking to millions of human friends simultaneously. Of course, all advice from someone else needs to be taken as another opinion. But, it certainly speeds up the research process, and, often, the answer is clear. Update your Chat GPT, click on the sound bar icon in the lower right, and start traveling everywhere with the smartest computer friend you ever had. I am using the new 01-mini engine, which is much faster than 4o, and has much improved reasoning skills.

 

The Future Is Now - The Time Machine's Librarian Is Here.

When I saw the Time Machine movie adaptation of the Wells' novel, I was intrigued by the future librarian scene, in which a holographic librarian was the repository of all human knowledge, and conversed with the protagonist. That future had destroyed itself; but, the librarian remained. We are on the cusp of making that 2002 movie a reality. Generative AI is now conversing with us in real time, and is pretty much indistinguishable from a super smart human. It is easy to put an Internet connected A.I. into a robot, and get a similar experience. You can bet that there will be A.I. equipped robots walking around in our near future. I love having generative A.I. as my legal assistant, answering complex questions. I have to remember that the answers come from language libraries developed by humans, and can contain errors and hallucinations. But, as a starting point for legal research, and checking results for accuracy, these things are becoming essential. Here is a clip from the movie, in case you didn't see it:

 

Open AI Was First, And Open AI Is The Best.

GPT4 Turbo Reclaims The Best In Class Status. Open AI was first to the line last year, and quickly became the deepest, and best generative AI application. It is back in first place, and it is my recommended number one for lawyers who want accurate, quick answers to questions about the law and legal documents. Like all AI, the results must be checked and hallucinations avoided; but the software gets better at that every day. I ask questions related to law and Florida law, and statutes and regulations daily, and very seldom do I find inaccuracies or problems. I love the fact that I can create tailored databases for my prompts, and I love having another deep mind in my legal toolbox. It is truly a leveler of the playing field for small law. What are you using in your practice?

Proof That Generative AI Will Enhance The Practice Of Law.

SmartDepo App. Where were these guys when I was litigating every day? This app takes a .txt or .pdf deposition transcript, and summarizes, analyzes, and creates highlights that make the summary immensely useful in witness exams, trial and other litigation work. Check out a sample of what the software does. It cost $2 a page, and, as the average depo is going to have a transcript that is under 100 pages, the price seems pretty reasonable; especially, when you realize that reading, analyzing, and creating a depo summary manually would take hours of billable attorney time. If I were a client, I would insist that my lawyer use AI software for review and analysis.

Legal Research In A Time Of Generative AI.

Chat GPT Is Not Good At Legal Research...So Let's Use It To Teach LegaL Research. This is a great article by David S. Kemp, the Managing Editor of Verdict, and a former Law Professor. As a former Law Professor myself, I can attest to the fact that Law Professors spend the bulk of their time briefing and discussing appellate case law in their classes. Of course, that also entails a discussion of the statutes, regulations and other materials that serve as the incubators for the disputes resolved in case law. But, the actual learning of how to find applicable case or statutory law is a subject usually relegated to a couple of first year courses, and is really learned in the trenches. In my day, pulling case books off the shelf, poring through indexes and treatises, and then, later in my early career, learning how to search cases collected on CDRoms, and later the Internet and computers. Chat GPT and the other current resources are really tools to analyze a complete database of legal materials, and they aren't actually current. (Chat GPT is up to around April, 2023). And, due to the construction of the algorithms, the bots tend to make up citations occasionally, or, as is more common, they refer the user to an actual database of cases, or a lawyer. But, if not useful as a case finder, they are really good at distilling a body of legal knowledge into a cogent analysis of a particular legal problem, which is the first thing law students need to learn how to do. So, I am not afraid of the future of generative AI. I look at it as making lawyer's abilities enhanced. With these computer tools, we can all become legal researchers on figurative steroids. Meet the super lawyer, who can leap complex legal issues with a single prompt. Now, get out there and lawyer on.