Law360, New York (February 15, 2017, 12:03 PM EST) -- Bruce J. Heiman Elana R. Reman It's hard to escape reading about the "AI revolution." Artificial intelligence or "AI" computer systems now can simulate surprising human-like processes including learning, decision-making, self-correction, speech and image recognition, reasoning and other tasks we typically think of as requiring "intelligence." The AI sprint has been propelled by recent growth in computing power, increasing availability and openness of large data sets, and "deep learning" algorithms that mimic neural networks.

"If you wish to build a ship, do not divide your people into teams and send them to the forest to cut wood. Instead, teach them to long for the vast and endless sea." (Often attributed to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.) There are many excellent robot products that aim to teach children to code. Those robots build the ship. We see the curiosity-driven play of bots_alive to be the prior step: building a passion in children for the human-centered design, technology, engineering, and math that drives the robots.

Currently, IP Australia's online virtual assistant powered by Nuance's Nina technology delivers a dynamic and engaging customer experience that lets customers easily understand trademark, patent, designs and plant breeder's rights processes. The human elements of dialogue and personalised interaction connect customers to the right information and tools, which translates into immediate, easy and effective self-servicing and increased customer satisfaction. At present, Alex is capable of answering IP rights questions in layman's terms, minimising customer confusion and maximising successful first-time transactions.

Congress just stepped into the robocar game. In the past two days, a pair of senators started drafting legislation to advance autonomous vehicles, and the House Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection held a two-hour hearing exploring how on the tech might be deployed. For your elected officials, it's a considerable, if tentative, step into the future of transportation. Small numbers of robocars already roam the San Francisco Bay Area and other cities, and you'll probably start riding in them within a few years as Uber and others commercialize the technology. Everything is racing ahead of a regulatory structure ill-equipped to usher in this change.

Robots and artificial intelligence (AI) will dominate legal practice within 15 years, perhaps leading to the "structural collapse" of law firms, a report predicting the shape of the legal market has envisaged. Civilisation 2030: The near future for law firms, by Jomati Consultants, foresees a world in which population growth is actually slowing, with "peak humanity" occurring as early as 2055, and ageing populations bringing a growth in demand for legal work on issues affecting older people. This could mean more advice needed by healthcare and specialist construction companies on the building and financing of hospitals, and on pension investment businesses, as well as financial and regulatory work around the demographic changes to come; more age-related litigation, IP battles between pharmaceutical companies, and around so-called "geriatric-tech" related IP. The report's focus on the future of work contained the most disturbing findings for lawyers. Its main proposition is that AI is already close in 2014. "It is no longer unrealistic to consider that workplace robots and their AI processing systems could reach the point of general production by 2030… after long incubation and experimentation, technology can suddenly race ahead at astonishing speed."

Man-versus-machine is a false dichotomy, pitting one against the other as two discrete, antagonistic entities. Machines will free up our time so we have fewer basic tasks to complete. We have already begun to see the start of this, with the creation of digital assistants like Siri and Alexa. Furthermore, machines will enable us to reimagine what our careers and working lives look like. It s worth remembering that the 40-hour workweek is a construct with a short history it was only in 1940 that it became codified through an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act.

I spent most of last week in the Midtown Hilton in New York City attending "Legaltech 2017," or "Legalweek: The Experience," or some sort of variation of the two. For the most part, it pretty much had the same feel as every other Legaltech I've attended. But I agree with my fellow Above the Law tech columnist, Bob Ambrogi, that ALM deserves kudos for trying to change the focus a bit. It may take a year or two of experimentation to get it right, but at least they're trying. This year, one of the topics that popped up over and over throughout the conference was artificial intelligence and its potential impact on the practice of law.

In 2016, an estimated 400 million people interacted with IBM's Watson: The artificial intelligence platform now processes data to assist in everything from oncology treatments to NBA draft picks. In the past year, dozens of companies, including GM, Japan Airlines, Hilton, and Pfizer, have launched initiatives using IBM's intelligence. Watson owes its ubiquity to the dozens of new AI tools, including emotional analysis and image recognition, that it offers developers. "Our mission is to let people own their own AI," says David Kenny, general manager of IBM Watson. Retail outlets such as Macy's and the Mall of America are employing Watson's language-processing tools to help shoppers navigate their stores.

Humble Bundle has raised millions for charities like the American Red Cross and Girls Who Code, but its latest offering is not only for a good cause -- it's making a political statement. The Humble Freedom Bundle is offering $600 worth of games and e-books for a minimum donation of $30, with the proceeds going to the ACLU, Doctors Without Borders and the International Rescue Committee. The Humble Freedom Bundle features an impressive line-up of recent indie games, such as critical darlings The Witness, Stardew Valley and The Stanley Parable. Humble Bundle said it'll match contributions up to $300,000. It more than doubled that goal in a couple of hours.

"Microsoft Monday" takes a look back at the past week of news related to Microsoft. This week, "Microsoft Monday" includes details about the acquisition of "Wiki" by Agile Extensions, a leaked Project NEON screenshot hinting at Windows 10 design changes, a federal judge ruling in favor of Microsoft in regards to the Justice Department lawsuit, the new suggested reminders feature for Cortana, Visual Studio 2017 launching on March 7th, the Surface Hub "Try & Buy Program" and more! In the past, Microsoft has been notorious for making design changes that did not sit well with consumers like we have seen in Windows Vista and Windows 8. Tom Hounsell, the creator of a Windows build tracker website called BuildFeed, published this leaked screenshot of the Windows 10 Project NEON design: The most notable Project NEON change is the removal of the window borders. This new user interface change could cause confusion in terms of resizing and moving windows. For example, some users may be confused about where to place the mouse in order to perform those functions.