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Evolve The Law Podcast: Jeff Ward

Jeff Ward and Ian do a deep dive on frontier technologies in this week's Evolve the Law Podcast.

Jeff Ward is the Director of the Duke Center on Law & Technology, which coordinates Duke’s leadership at the intersection of law and technology with programs like the Duke Law Tech Lab, a pre-accelerator for legal technology companies, and the Access Tech Tools Initiative, employing human-centered design thinking and available technologies to create tools to enhance access to legal services. 

In this episode, Jeff and Host Ian Connett (@QuantumJurist) discuss preparing law students, lawyers and policy makers for a future filled with “frontier technologies,” including a deep dive on ethical A.I. development, the advent of brain computing interfaces (“BCIs”), and why we may in fact be on the cusp of a new “golden age” of lawyering. 


For the latest topics, trends and tech in the legal industry, subscribe to the Evolve the Law Podcast: A Catalyst for Legal Innovation. Listen as legal experts and leaders share insights about the legal industry. For more information, questions, or suggestions about our podcast feel free to email us at evolve@abovethelaw.com.

Learn more about the Duke Center on Law & Technology https://law.duke.edu/dclt/

Connect with Jeff Ward https://law.duke.edu/fac/jward/

Evolve your legal practice with technology.  Access the Evolve the Law Directory

Show Notes 

  • How Jeff got started at the Duke Center.  Teaching law students the ethics of AI, blockchain and design thinking.
  • Designing a law course around a “Black Mirror” episode.
  • How law students today are energized by exploring the implications of “frontier technologies.”  The common ethos that things need to change.
  • Why we need to look for the legal leaders of tomorrow, today.
  • On regulating the ethical development of AI – the two ways of thinking about AI and the future of law.
  • The core purpose of law school.  On empathy and problem solving.
  • On teaching law students to become better managers, as well as better lawyers with a better tool set.
  • Defining a “frontier technology” – the top 3 Jeff is thinking about (for now).
  • Ethical technology development vs. ex post reaction.  The case of Cambridge Analytica and avoiding a negative feedback loop of policymaking.
  • Brain Computing Interfaces (“BCIs”) and their potential use cases in the courtrooms of tomorrow.
  • Quantum Computing, CRISPR and the geopolitics of nations competing for frontier technology.
  • A golden age of lawyering?

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