This two part paper argues that seemingly "technical" choices made by developers of machine-learning based algorithmic tools used to inform decisions by criminal justice authorities can create serious constitutional dangers, enhancing the likelihood of abuse of decision-making power and the scope and magnitude of injustice. Drawing on three algorithmic tools in use, or recently used, to assess the "risk" posed by individuals to inform how they should be treated by criminal justice authorities, we integrate insights from data science and public law scholarship to show how public law principles and more specific legal duties that are rooted in these principles, are routinely overlooked in algorithmic tool-building and implementation. We argue that technical developers must collaborate closely with public law experts to ensure that if algorithmic decision-support tools are to inform criminal justice decisions, those tools are configured and implemented in a manner that is demonstrably compliant with public law principles and doctrine, including respect for human rights, throughout the tool-building process.

As previously reported in this space, the Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit has ruled that an AI machine cannot be an inventor because it is not a "natural person." You can read those posts here and here. On November 11, 2022, a group of plaintiffs filed suit in the Northern District of California against several defendants, including GitHub, Inc., Microsoft Corporation, and OpenAI, Inc. and related companies to OpenAI. The issue stems from a product called Copilot and a product integrated into Copilot called Codex. To provide some context of the issue, some backstory may help.

Early this week, tractor maker John Deere said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the American Farm Bureau Federation, an agricultural trade group, promising to make it easier for farmers to access tools and software needed to repair their own equipment. The deal looked like a concession from the agricultural equipment maker, a major target of the right-to-repair movement, which campaigns for better access to documents and tools needed for people to repair their own gear. But right-to-repair advocates say that despite some good points, the agreement changes little, and farmers still face unfair barriers to maintaining equipment they own. Kevin O'Reilly, a director of the right-to-repair campaign run by the US Public Interest Research Group, a grassroots lobbying organization, says the timing of Deere's deal suggests the company may be trying to quash recent interest in right-to-repair laws from state legislators. In the past two years, corn belt states including Nebraska and Missouri, and also Montana, have considered giving farmers a legal right to tools needed to repair their own equipment. But no laws have been passed.

China will begin enforcing its strict new rules around the creation of deepfakes from today. Deepfakes are increasingly being used for manipulation and humiliation. We've seen deepfakes of figures like disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried to commit fraud, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to spread disinformation, and US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to make her appear drunk. Last month, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) announced rules to clampdown on deepfakes. "In recent years, in-depth synthetic technology has developed rapidly. While serving user needs and improving user experiences, it has also been used by some criminals to produce, copy, publish, and disseminate illegal and bad information, defame, detract from the reputation and honour of others, and counterfeit others," explains the CAC.

There has been legal documentation through technological systems, but it goes beyond exploring technology for transmitting and storing legal proceedings to creating a robot lawyer. Pondering what a robot lawyer does? A robot lawyer can advocate like a trained, and experienced lawyer would do. A robot lawyer can "fight corporations, beat bureaucracy, and sue anyone at the press of a button", says Joshua Browder, DoNotPay founder. DoNotPay is a manufacturing company aimed at making legal information and self-help services available to everyone through the use of technology.

At DeepScribe, we value trust, teamwork, and transparency, and we're dedicated to promoting diversity and equity in the workforce through inclusive hiring practices. Candidates with backgrounds that are underrepresented in the technology industry are encouraged to apply. In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required eligibility verification form upon hire.

Position is open to Remote candidates in the US or Canada. Must be able to work starting around 9am EST to connect with teammates in Oslo, Norway. Founded in 2010, Tapad cracked the code on cross-device marketing technology. Our groundbreaking, proprietary technology assimilates trillions of data points to find the relationship between smartphones, desktops, laptops, tablets, and connected TVs. Ten years later, we are processing data at petabyte scale, with an engineering team that comprises roughly half of our entire organization.

A "robot" lawyer powered by artificial intelligence will be the first of its kind to help a defendant fight a traffic ticket in court next month. Joshua Browder, CEO of DoNotPay, said the company's AI-creation runs on a smartphone, listens to court arguments and formulates responses for the defendant. The AI lawyer tells the defendant what to say in real-time, through headphones. The artificial intelligence firm has already used AI-generated form letters and chatbots to help people secure refunds for in-flight Wifi that didn't work, as well as to lower bills and dispute parking tickets, among other issues, according to Browder. All told the company has relied on these AI templates to win more than 2 million customer service disputes and court cases on behalf of individuals against institutions and organizations, he added.

In 2029, the human race faces eradication and extinction by its own creation, a machine powered by a self-aware artificial intelligence (AI) program called Skynet. So goes the plot of The Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenneger's hit movie from the '80s. In the movie, surviving humans formed a resistance against Skynet and the machines. Their plan was to destroy the company that created the AI to prevent Skynet from being created in the first place. When the movie was released, the very concept that machines could be self-aware was a far-fetched idea and simply a figment of the writer's imagination.

A John Deere autonomous tractor is on display at CES 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. A John Deere autonomous tractor is on display at CES 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Like many parts of modern life, tractors have gone high-tech, often running on advanced computer systems. But some manufacturers are tight-lipped about how these electronics work, making it difficult or nearly impossible for farmers and independent repair shops to diagnose and fix problems with the equipment. An agreement by John Deere may finally give farmers a greater hand in repairing the company's products.