Ron Dolin | Technology & Law: Which Controls The Other | BayCHI Monthly Speaker

Light dinner served at 6:30. Feel free to bring your own if you prefer. We strive to support both in-person and remote attendance, so we'll also fire up the Zoom at that point to support virtual socializing.

Abstract

This talk will focus on the interplay between AI and law, which is more bi-directional than one might think. To begin, I'll discuss the character.ai court case, in which the parents of a teenager who committed suicide after interacting with a fictional AI character are suing the makers of the system. One issue is whether GenAI output should be considered free speech. This is an example of some of the issues playing out in society with the use of AI, and the question of if, and how, to set limits.

In an effort to address questions about finding an optimal path for how we interact with AI, I founded a non-profit: the AI Integration Task Force (AIITF). However, there have been ongoing problems getting traction, and it looks like AI technology is moving much faster than our willingness to address its uses.

Finally, I'll broaden the discussion to the general interaction between technology and law. As an example of the challenges, how and when should we allow AI agents to break the law, how do we feel about automated judges, etc.

Bio

Ron received his B.A. in math and physics from U.C. Berkeley. He then worked at CERN. His Computer Science PhD relates to scalable search. He also attended law school and is licensed in CA. Ron was one of the first 100 employees at Google. Ron is an angel investor, focusing on legal technology startups, and has taught legal technology and informatics at Stanford, Notre Dame, and Harvard law schools. Ron co-edited and co-wrote a textbook published by Cambridge University Press called "Legal Informatics".

Location
OtherLab
3101 20th St
San Francisco, CA 94110

Zoom registration
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/EzEi0ZO6SjaSyD2DkZ1XrQ

Stream On YouTube

See the videos on our channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@baychisanfranciscobayareaa767/videos?view=0&sort=dd&shelf_id=1

For more info: https://baychi.org/calendar/20250610/