"Soft language" in a new agreement governing international armed drone exports could give foreign companies an advantage over U.S. industry, according to analysts. The administration on Wednesday announced that 44 nations had signed a joint declaration overseeing the sale and use of armed unmanned aerial vehicles. The new document requires the countries to commit to the "responsible export" of armed UAVs and continue conversations about standards for drone use and sales, the use of drone strikes in accordance with "international law" and the effort to increase transparency. Rachel Stohl, a senior associate at the Stimson Center, said U.S. companies are often subject to higher standards than their international competitors with respect to drone exports. "This declaration could continue [to] result in other countries and foreign companies having an edge over U.S. companies for drone exports," Stohl said via email.

Canadian legal AI company Kira Systems has announced deals with two more law firms following the news this week it had forged the first European law firm deal for an AI-driven cognitive system. Kira's AI software will also now be used by US firm, Fenwick & West, and Canada's Osler. The two new clients build on what would appear to be a first for the European legal market, in the shape of McCann FitzGerald adopting Kira's AI, making it the first non-UK European law firm to adopt a cognitive engine AI system. Fenwick is based in Mountain View, California and has a strong pedigree in advising technology companies. Ralph Pais, technology transactions partner, said of the deal: '[We] have invested heavily in tools and processes that make our M&A practice as fast and efficient as possible.

Edward Snowden appears from Russia to people in Stuttgart, Germany, in 2014. SAN FRANCISCO -- The Edward Snowden effect just made an encore, thanks to a report Yahoo has been scanning incoming emails on behalf of U.S. intelligence officials. And it's likely to take a few more bows. U.S. technology companies, already in defensive mode thanks to the former NSA contractor's revelations of a mass government surveillance program in 2013, are even more data-hungry today and therefore more on edge. From big data to the cloud to artificial intelligence you can talk to in your kitchen, the tech world is busy spinning the straw of information it gathers about users into gold.

There are many arguments surrounding whether or not marijuana should be grown and used for medical reasons. But the impact on the climate is one factor in the debate that may have been overlooked, - until now. A new report, by a clean energy policy research institute, has found growing marijuana makes up one per cent of energy use in states like Colorado and Washington. The impact on the climate is one factor in the debate that may have been overlooked, until now. A new report, by a clean energy policy research institute, has found growing marijuana makes up 1 per cent of energy use in states like Colorado and Washington.

Its traditional aversion to risk has meant the legal profession has not been in the vanguard of new technology. But it is seen as ripe for disruption -- a view that is based not least on pressure from tech-savvy corporate clients questioning the size of their legal bills and wanting to reduce risk. As more law firms become familiar with terms such as machine learning and data mining, they are creating tech-focused jobs like "head of research and development" or hiring coders or artificial intelligence (AI) experts. Change is being driven not only by demand from clients but also by competition from accounting firms, which have begun to offer legal services and to use technology to do routine work. "Lawtech" start-ups, often set up by ex-lawyers and so-called because they use technology to streamline or automate routine aspects of legal work, are a threat too.

For lawyers, that will mean creating legal algorithms to automate at least the routine parts of their practices. Starting perhaps with those tasks that are frequently undertaken and are less legally complex. Over time, the complexity will increase as intelligent software becomes more capable. Either way, what we are seeing is the intersection between technologies capable of creating legal algorithms and an Internet capable of distributing services on-line. In the same way that consumers today demand device driven Apps to consume goods, in time professional services will be demanded similarly by businesses. Clients will likely be the driving force for change within law firms.

My team and I attended several legaltech-focused conferences this month and of course, as expected, machine learning and AI were the topics that everyone wanted to discuss in between sessions. Yet interestingly, at the Emerging Legal Technology Forum put on by Legalx, one of the panelists -- Mark Tamminga, leader of innovation initiatives at at Gowling WLG -- was against using these terms in reference to emerging legal technologies. He pointed out that often what is being called AI is really not that at all, and felt that these words were being used as fancy buzzwords that escape the real mechanics of these technologies. As someone deeply involved in the development community here in Toronto, I wholeheartedly agree with his perspective. Many of the conversations occurring in legaltech around what people are calling machine learning are actually algorithmic solutions preprogrammed (that's right, programmed by humans) to do a particular task; nothing that deviates greatly from anything that's already been done many years ago.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to be a revolution on how we interact with the world around us as part of a connected environment. As part of the series of guest posts named Thoughts Leaders' Corner, here is a very interesting article from Aric Dromi, Chief Futurologist at Volvo Car Group and cofounder of TEMPUS.MOTU. I hope you will enjoy it and if you are interested to the legal issues of the Internet of Things that are part of this digital revolution, check my blog post here! We are living in an experience based interaction simulation. A place that is governed by transparent intelligence technologies.

What happens to privacy when drones are deployed by police? Whither the legal profession now that robots are performing legal tasks overseas? Robots are part of everyday lives – they are used in hospitals for intricate surgery, in the environment to monitor species, and on the battlefield, but the legal system is struggling to keep up with regulation of robotics, says QUT Intellectual Property and Innovation Professor Mathew Rimmer. QUT will host the first ever multi-disciplinary symposium on the legal, ethical and public policy challenges posed by robotics tomorrow, Friday October 7 in P Block of Gardens Point campus. Professor Rimmer said forum participants from law, philosophy, ethics, public policy, and robotics would take an urgently needed comprehensive look at robotics and the law as part of the emerging effort to forge a new discipline of robot law and policy.

McCann FitzGerald has successfully trialled state-of-the-art Kira software in M&A, corporate finance and capital markets transactions in a move to improve efficiency and lower costs for clients. It is the first law firm in Ireland to deploy this technology, building on the launch of the Data Investigations Group earlier in the year. Kira software uses the power of artificial intelligence, searches and text analysis within documents to deliver improved levels of speed, efficiency and quality to processes. Commenting on the project, managing partner Barry Devereux said: 'Our investment in Kira Systems' innovative software is the latest milestone in our digital strategy. Our in-house expertise combined with the latest cutting-edge technology enables us to process complex data and deliver exceptional value to clients.' Earlier this year, McCann FitzGerald launched its Data Investigations Group, a model for the management of high-volume document review and reporting.