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Daily Archives: January 6, 2020

Will Artificial Intelligence Eat the Law? The Rise of Hybrid Social-Ordering Systems

Wu, Tim, Will Artificial Intelligence Eat the Law? The Rise of Hybrid Social-Ordering Systems (August 25, 2019). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3492846 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3492846

“Software has partially or fully displaced many former human activities, such as catching speeders or flying airplanes, and proven itself able to surpass humans in certain contests, like Chess and Jeopardy. What are the prospects for the displacement of human courts as the centerpiece of legal decision-making? Based on the case study of hate speech control on major tech platforms, particularly on Twitter and Facebook, this Essay suggests displacement of human courts remains a distant prospect, but suggests that hybrid machine–human systems are the predictable future of legal adjudication, and that there lies some hope in that combination, if done well.”

Elite Law Firms Are Quietly Outsourcing High-Value Functions

The American Lawyer: “Sullivan & Cromwell spends millions of dollars on technology, ensuring its equipment is accessible to its lawyers around the globe and that its digital security can keep clients safe. Chairman Joe Shenker, citing bank surveys, says the Wall Street firm’s tech costs per lawyer are higher than any of its peers. Still,… Continue Reading

Judge backs Reveal’s suit to end secrecy around Silicon Valley’s diversity

Reveal: “A federal judge on Tuesday struck down attempts by the U.S. Department of Labor and several major Silicon Valley firms to keep companies’ staff diversity numbers secret, siding with the argument made by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting that the records are not confidential business information.  Magistrate Judge Kandis A. Westmore of… Continue Reading

What you’d spend to prevent climate change and what you could get with your money

ABC.net.au: “As the country burns and temperatures rise, climate change is once again at the forefront of our national consciousness. It’s a problem that seems intractable, and has dogged politics for decades. More than 54,000 Australians took part in the nationally representative Australia Talks National Survey, and the number one thing they said was keeping… Continue Reading

A History of Buying Books Onto the Bestseller List

BookRiot: “…For those unaware of how bestseller lists work, here’s a primer. They each use different metrics and data sources, but the NYT is considered to be the most “curated,” with a secretive process. It is known that they poll a large selection of independent booksellers and major retailers. These are often called “reporting” bookstores.… Continue Reading

Eurasia Group’s Top risks For 2020

This is Eurasia Group’s annual forecast of the political risks that are most likely to play out over the course of the year. This year’s report was published on 6 January 2020. “2020 is a tipping point. We’ve lived with growing levels of geopolitical risk for nearly a decade, but without a true international crisis.… Continue Reading