by Daniel Brubaker (MI)

Professor Rubenstein began by explaining that the adoption of AI in the workplace is evolving from a personal choice to a professional necessity—and it may soon become unavoidable. He reminded us that AI primarily functions as a statistical pattern identifier – it is essentially a predictive tool that anticipates the next word in a sequence.  During his presentation, the professor highlighted both the promising benefits of AI, such as enhanced control, speed, and efficiency, as well as significant ethical concerns, leading to critical questions about what lawyers are and what purposes they ultimately serve. Alongside these ethical considerations, he noted concerns about the potential “hollowing out” of legal tasks and “cognitive atrophy” that can arise from an overdependence on AI, impacting individuals and organizations alike. He explained that bias is another crucial issue, as AI tends to draw from common patterns and proximity between words, which may reflect existing biases present in its training data. But AI is very good at tasks that do not involve stating specific facts (which is where hallucinations may occur), such as outlining, document review, or proposing deposition questions.  

Professor Rubenstein also discussed how AI challenges traditional pathways for legal training, posing questions about how we cultivate judgment and expertise in an environment where foundational tasks are automated. He reviewed ethical obligations for attorneys, including making informed decisions about client services, keeping clients informed of how work is being done, ensuring confidentiality, and maintaining transparency and candor with the court.  Ultimately, he challenged the audience to take an active role in shaping how AI integrates into the legal field. While the technology’s development may be out of our hands, our responses to it are not. It’s vital that we advocate for the preservation of essential human qualities in legal practice:  judgment, creativity, and moral reasoning. The session wrapped up with attendees sharing their own creative and effective applications of AI in their work.

The author would like to acknowledge the help of Professor Rubenstein, who provided an AI drafted summary of his own presentation.