{"id":109393,"date":"2025-02-27T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-27T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/02\/27\/societies-of-legal-minds-a-lens-on-ai\/"},"modified":"2025-02-27T03:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-02-27T11:00:00","slug":"societies-of-legal-minds-a-lens-on-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/02\/27\/societies-of-legal-minds-a-lens-on-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"Societies of Legal Minds: A Lens on AI"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Marc Lauritsen | We may not welcome artificial minds into our law societies, but they will grace our workplaces.<br \/>\nThe post Societies of Legal Minds: A Lens on AI appeared first on Articles, Tips and Tech for Law Firms and Lawyers.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>We may not welcome artificial minds into law societies, but they will grace our workplaces. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Like other humans, lawyers are fundamentally social, inside and out, physically and mentally. We contain multitudes and live within multitudes. Law itself is a socially produced way of regulating social behavior. So let\u2019s apply a sociological lens to our accelerating encounters with artificial intelligence and consider the societies of legal minds.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"770\" height=\"495\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.attorneyatwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Societies-of-Legal-Minds.jpg?resize=770%2C495&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"societies of legal minds\" class=\"wp-image-100040727\" title=\"\"><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"wp-block-yoast-seo-table-of-contents yoast-table-of-contents\">\n<h2>Table of contents<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.attorneyatwork.com\/societies-of-legal-minds\/#h-the-inner-society\" data-level=\"2\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Inner Society<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.attorneyatwork.com\/societies-of-legal-minds\/#h-the-outer-society\" data-level=\"2\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Outer Society<\/a>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.attorneyatwork.com\/societies-of-legal-minds\/#h-what-will-life-be-like-with-societies-of-artificial-helpmates-in-the-legal-workplace\" data-level=\"3\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">What will life be like with societies of artificial helpmates in the legal workplace?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.attorneyatwork.com\/societies-of-legal-minds\/#h-educating-mindful-legal-practitioners\" data-level=\"2\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Educating Mindful Legal Practitioners<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-inner-society\"><strong>The Inner Society<\/strong><\/h2>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-medium\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"250\" height=\"238\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.attorneyatwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Lawyer-Mind-250x238.jpg?resize=250%2C238&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-100040724\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>In \u201cThe Society of Mind\u201d (1986) Marvin Minsky theorized that natural intelligence arises from interactions of mindless parts. He wrote, \u201cWhat magical trick makes us intelligent? The trick is that there is no trick. The power of intelligence stems from our vast diversity, not from any single, perfect principle.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Generative AI systems remain mindless, yet they exhibit astonishing linguistic proficiency and other skills. They largely rely on deep learning, eschewing good old-fashioned symbolic methods, and lack explicit world models. As Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis argued in \u201cRebooting AI\u201d (2019), such a monoculture limits their potential. Progress may require combining connectionist approaches with traditional knowledge-encoding in so-called neuro-symbolic systems. <\/p>\n<p>What about in law? Optimally helpful generative AI systems are unlikely to emerge without symbolic scaffolding in contexts such as the following:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Generating and critiquing <strong>arguments<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Eliciting, understanding, and telling <strong>stories<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Handling <strong>ambiguity<\/strong> and <strong>metaphor<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Facilitating authentic human <strong>choices<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Formulating <strong>strategies<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Artificial personalities will need a village of cognitive and emotional competencies to be maximally useful in law \u2014 including artificial curiosity and mechanical humility. Educability and neuroplasticity also seem essential.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, there are plenty of human \u201cfeatures\u201d best not replicated, such as fanaticism, malevolence, bias, forgetfulness, distraction and other vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-outer-society\">The Outer Society<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"770\" height=\"495\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.attorneyatwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/1-Societies-of-Legal-Minds-Illustration.jpg?resize=770%2C495&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-100040744\" title=\"\"><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-will-life-be-like-with-societies-of-artificial-helpmates-in-the-legal-workplace\">What will life be like with societies of artificial helpmates in the legal workplace? <\/h3>\n<p>We already have a new \u201cattribution error\u201d in which humans experience artificial systems that display linguistic prowess as intelligent personalities. Will we be interacting with multiple generic personalities or ones we\u2019ve come to know (and that have come to know us)?<\/p>\n<p>Legal work may require managing hordes of such agents. Our new apprentices will be experientially learning on the job alongside us.<\/p>\n<p>We may not welcome artificial minds into our law societies (even if they manage to satisfy character and fitness standards, not just pass bar exams), but they will grace our workplaces. They may well be excellent assistants and colleagues, as they both substitute for us in some contexts and augment us in others.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-background\"><strong>AI will increasingly substitute for lawyers in consumer, small-business and unrepresented litigant scenarios, and it will both substitute for and augment lawyers in work where they are still needed and wanted.<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"770\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.attorneyatwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Consumer-Helper-770-x-495-px.png?resize=770%2C300&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"substitution and augmentation between societies of legal minds\" class=\"wp-image-100040719\" title=\"\"><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-educating-mindful-legal-practitioners\">Educating Mindful Legal Practitioners<\/h2>\n<p>I\u2019ve long extolled the pedagogical value of trying to build a legal mind, for example, in maker-style courses where students create apps that help someone do legal work. (See <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=C01legdVziA&amp;feature=youtu.be&amp;t=27m14s\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">this Stanford Law talk on learning law by teaching machines how to think like lawyers.<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>Most lawyers are unlikely to build their own synthetic sidekicks. But they will increasingly need skills such as:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>How to select and manage AIs\u00a0(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.legalevolution.org\/2022\/06\/the-social-life-of-legal-tech-choices-309\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">tech selection can be highly social<\/a>).<\/li>\n<li>When to delegate what to a mechanical assistant.<\/li>\n<li>Which \u201ctaps\u201d to open when you have a lot of \u201crunning\u201d knowledge inputs.<\/li>\n<li>Whether to be a teacher or a puppeteer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-aaw-full-width-no-crop\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"770\" height=\"422\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.attorneyatwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Figure-3-Societies-of-Legal-Minds-770x422.jpg?resize=770%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Know which taps to open\" class=\"wp-image-100040708\" title=\"\"><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-aaw-full-width-no-crop\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"770\" height=\"374\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.attorneyatwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Figure-4-Legal-Societies-770x374.jpg?resize=770%2C374&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-100040709\" title=\"\"><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A brooding omnipresence of artificial intelligences will not just transform the legal workplace. It will also open new opportunities to extend access to justice and legal wellness to the vast part of humanity presently excluded from them. But we\u2019re still in the early stages in terms of system quality, educational institution support and regulatory readiness. As in society more generally.<\/p>\n<p><em>Editor\u2019s note: This piece began as a talk at the 2024 Conference of the <a href=\"https:\/\/futureoflawassociation.org\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">International Future of Law Association<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\">Image \u00a9 iStockPhoto.com. <\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile has-white-background-color has-background\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.attorneyatwork.com\/subscribe\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"372\" height=\"106\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.attorneyatwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/AttorneyatWork-Logo-%C2%AE-2021-1.jpg?resize=372%2C106&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-100019522 size-aaw-full-width-no-crop\" title=\"\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p><strong>Don\u2019t miss out on our daily practice management tips.<\/strong> <strong>Subscribe to Attorney at Work\u2019s free newsletter <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.attorneyatwork.com\/subscribe\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\"><strong>here &gt;<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Marc Lauritsen | We may not welcome artificial minds into our law societies, but they will grace our workplaces. The post Societies of Legal Minds: A Lens on AI appeared first on Articles, Tips and Tech for Law Firms and Lawyers. We may not welcome artificial minds into law societies, but they will grace our [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal_matters"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109393\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}