Nils Daniels

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Considering most of my family has studied the subject of law, I’ve always had a special interest in the subject. Discussions surrounding law have been commonplace for me, usually, I don’t have much to say in these discussions as they can be quite technical. Until recently one of the questions arose surrounding how AI could impact the practice of law.

The current way in which AI is used at the forefront of law is by having the AI assist in processing and documentation of a wide range of matters like due diligence, document and contract review, etc. It can help improve accuracy and reduce risk, it will also save time when used (Jamesju, 2023). There is also the interesting case of DoNotPay, the first real robot lawyer released in 2015 by Joshua Browder (Jeevanandam, n.d.). Since more data helps the system continuously develop the robot recently got to the point where it could defend its first human in court, a big step for the technology (Jeevanandam, n.d.).

For those who are pessimistic about the field of law, the advance of AI has been described as a tool that will end up replacing lawyers. Over a decade ago predictions were made about lawyers being the field of work most in danger with advancement in AI looming (Lohr, 2023).

But the reality of the matter is much more nuanced, the reality of the matter is that for the foreseeable future, the occupation of lawyers will be similar (Lohr, 2023). This doesn’t mean the lives of lawyers won’t be changed as AI is likely to make work more efficient and thus eliminate some jobs. Working more efficiently might also cause a shift in the business model for lawyers abandoning the dominant model of charging for hours and shifting towards a model in which lawyers charged for the work done (Lohr, 2023).

Potential problems arising from the extended use of AI in law are. The problem of potentially biased datasets, biased datasets will lead to biased decision-making by the AI A huge problem in law, hallucinations being another example (Morgan, 2023). The use of AI might also lead to a reduction in knowledge and craftsmanship among lawyers compromising the field (Morgan, 2023).

The use of AI in law won’t be a tidal wave for lawyers sweeping the entire business away altogether and causing changes in work for people working in law. It will however significantly change the manner in which lawyers have to work, having to account for potential problems with AI as they go.

References:

Jamesju. (2023, August 30). Legal AI tools: Essential for attorneys | Legal Blog. Thomson Reuters Law Blog. https://legal.thomsonreuters.com/blog/legal-ai-tools-essential-for-attorneys/

Jeevanandam, N. (n.d.). Robot lawyer: an AI-powered robot defends a human in court. INDIAai. https://indiaai.gov.in/article/robot-lawyer-an-ai-powered-robot-defends-a-human-in-court

Lohr, S. (2023, April 10). A.I. Is Coming for Lawyers, Again. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/10/technology/ai-is-coming-for-lawyers-again.html

(Morgan (2023, July 12). https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/dangers-relying-generative-ai-law-tom-morgan/

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Considering the ever-growing presence of deepfakes online now especially present for me because of the upcoming Dutch election. I’ve been wondering how this tool will develop itself and when will we reach the point that deepfakes become indistinguishable from real for humans. How will we in the future enforce and outlaw videos that are indistinguishable from what’s real for humans?

Within the context of the current day most of us have heard about the potential dangers of deepfakes and the way they can potentially disturb democratic processes (Tilburg University, 2022). The main current-day problem surrounding deepfakes comes from the difficulties surrounding the enforcement of regulations (Ministerie van Justitie en Veiligheid, 2022). Currently, we find ourselves in a situation in which there are still guidelines on how we can detect a deepfake from reality. Examples of how to detect an AI deepfake from reality currently are paying attention to the shadows and paying attention to the face as currently almost all high-quality deepfakes are facial transformations (MIT Media Lab, n.d.).

The nature of AI tools is for them to be ever-improving as the training data from which the tools stem grows and expands. With growing realism even more questions surrounding the presence of deepfakes in media arise. This combined with the likelihood of the number of deepfakes online keeps increasing (Ministerie van Justitie en Veiligheid, 2022). These factors will also cause questions surrounding regulations and enforcement of these regulations to keep increasing.

One of the answers that is described online by most is the use of AI authenticator tools to detect deepfake from reality. Large corporations are already positioning themselves in developing deepfake detection tools. Examples are Intel’s real-time deepfake detector and Microsoft’s video authenticator tool (McFarland, 2023). It looks likely that the best tool to protect us against AI deepfakes will be an AI detection device. This will

From this situation stems the part of the discussion which I find most interesting. As we keep progressing with both the creation and detection of deepfake devices. Firstly, there is the question of what the human position will be when we are virtually useless while both creators and detectors scramble to out-develop each other. Secondly, questions arise about embracing this technology or trying to regulate it. This doubled-edged sword of deepfake AI needs answering and needs to be continuously regulated and monitored. Unfortunately with the current state of Dutch politics and the bureaucratic slow-moving nature of government, these questions won’t be answered on the national level.

References:

Deepfakes kunnen op termijn de samenleving ontwrichten | Tilburg University. (n.d.). Tilburg University. https://www.tilburguniversity.edu/nl/actueel/persberichten/deepfakes-kunnen-op-termijn-de-samenleving-ontwrichten

Project Overview ‹ Detect DeepFakes: How to counteract misinformation created by AI – MIT Media Lab. (n.d.). MIT Media Lab. https://www.media.mit.edu/projects/detect-fakes/overview/

McFarland, A. (2023). 5 Best Deepfake Detector Tools & Techniques (October 2023). Unite.AI. https://www.unite.ai/best-deepfake-detector-tools-and-techniques/

Ministerie van Justitie en Veiligheid. (2022, January 5). Probleem van deepfakes zit niet in wetgeving, maar vooral in handhaving daarvan. Nieuwsbericht | WODC – Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek- En Documentatiecentrum. https://www.wodc.nl/actueel/nieuws/2022/01/05/probleem-van-deepfakes-zit-niet-in-wetgeving-maar-vooral-in-handhaving-daarvan

AI in law: Future foresights and potential problems

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AI deepfakes as a threat: The present, future and a possible double-edged sword.

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