Technology

Legalweek Robot Fight Was Mayweather-Pacquiao For AI Case Briefing Software

A Hilton bar witnessed an improbable, wacky, comical, amazing, and fascinating battle between two AI solutions.

By Joe Patrice on January 31, 2018 6:12 pm

UPDATE: There are a number of updates and clarifications below.

And much like the actual Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, one side was way more prepared for it.

Legalweek isn’t the sort of event that usually spawns an old-school rumble. It’s a bunch of tech geeks and lawyers gushing about efficiency and productivity. If there’s any event in the world more at risk to a swirlie attack, it’s this one. But somehow a throwdown emerged yesterday.

It all began with ROSS Intelligence CEO Andrew Arruda hyping his latest announcement:

OK, you’ve got our attention. When the big announcement came — a product called EVA that uses artificial intelligence to assist litigators in writing briefs — Arruda literally dropped the mic.

The resulting thud was a metaphor for the reaction from tech observers wondering if this wasn’t just another version of Casetext’s CARA. Not that there’s anything wrong with multiple solutions occupying the same space — but it is kind of the opposite of a game changer.

That’s when Sarah Glassmeyer ignited a fire that would soon burn out of control.

https://twitter.com/sglassmeyer/status/958047817460781057

Because Casetext’s Jacob Heller was fully prepared to play Battlebots.

Gauntlet thrown. Sounds like a fun diversion for a conference that can get a little repetitive. They could totally ham it up like a wrestling match.

There was just one problem.

https://twitter.com/kimballdparker/status/958324654606708736

Casetext had some thoughts on the argument that CARA’s great disadvantage was that law firms would have to pay a fee for it:

To channel the late 90s… aw snap.

This is where the story would end under most circumstances. But Casetext decided they didn’t have to wait for ROSS to have tussle. Casetext just went ahead and set up EVA so they could run it head-to-head.

And so it was on. Bob Ambrogi livestreamed it and you can read his breakdown over here and watch it below. As bar fights I’ve witnessed go, it involved way fewer broken shards of glass wielded as weapons (UPDATE: Apparently the video isn’t embedding properly. You can watch it here)

In a display of professional diplomacy, Heller was more even-handed during Cyber Slam than he probably would have been if Arruda had been there to defend his product.

But that doesn’t mean there wasn’t a little shade (UPDATE: Heller pointed out on Twitter that he wasn’t trying to throw shade. But it certainly sounded that way to this reporter):

Or, a lot of shade:

EVA didn’t help itself with this announcement right in the midst of the fight:

Yikes.

Aside from the ludicrousness of gathering around some computers in a hotel bar, Adam Ziegler’s post hits the nail on the head about the whole affair:

Before the battle, Arruda did some work managing expectations for his game changer.

Arruda’s point is worth remembering. Casetext’s CARA has reached a stage of maturity that a two-month-old platform could never match. But EVA has time. It’ll work out the lumps and, you know, figure out how to search by case name. A year from now we’ll have all forgotten EVA’s early days.

Except he had to go and call it a game changer… (UPDATE: Arruda told me he meant “game changer” to refer to the fact that the system will be free, bridging the access to justice gap.)

https://twitter.com/sglassmeyer/status/958117893115449344

Bulls**t Sarah. This blood is on your hands.

Robot Fight: Casetext’s CARA vs. ROSS’s EVA [Lawsites]

HeadshotJoe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.