Aparna Bundro, Business Development and Communications specialist and former lawyer, comments on whether AI robots may be the next inflection point in the legal industry after NewLaw, and considers the extent to which law firms will be inclined to invest in AI robots. As evolutionary beings, we are constantly looking for ways to extend ourselves, to rewire and upscale our abilities, and artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a big part of our modern reality, and what some call trans-humanism. Whether AI brings to mind Kubrick, the Internet of Things or Smartapps, the applications of the technology are endless. But what does this mean for lawyers? But for the tech-savvy maverick practitioners, who welcome the opportunity to'change lanes' every once in a while, AI in a legal universe can bring more opportunities than threats.

TIME TO RE-FILE: "A U.S. judge on Monday partly dismissed a lawsuit filed by Twitter in which the social media company argued it should be allowed to publicly disclose more details about requests for information it receives from the U.S. government," Reuters reports. "U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California also gave Twitter the opportunity to re-file its lawsuit to include more details about government decision-making, in order to try to move its claims forward." NEXT IN SMART GUNS: "The departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Justice released a report on April 29 outlining a strategy for promoting smart gun technology to reduce gun violence," FCW reports. "There are two basic types of smart gun technologies. One keeps a gun from being fired by anyone other than the weapon's authorized user. The other embeds a small chip into guns to make it easier to track stolen weapons. The government's goal is to encourage gun manufacturers to find new ways to integrate the technology into their devices while ensuring the firearms maintain their dependability."

A team of researchers has created the simplest drone in the world. The'monospinner' was demonstrated at the ETH Zurich Flying Machine Arena and has just one moving part – a rotating propeller that allows it to spin through the air. Its movements may look erratic, but the drone is controllable, using feedback to keep the vehicle near its equilibrium. A team of researchers has created the simplest drone in the world. The'monospinner' was demonstrated at the ETH Zurich Flying Machine Arena and has just one moving part – a rotating propeller that allows it to spin through the air The monospinner works by maintaining an'unconventional equilibrium.'

Currently at this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct the question-and-answer session and instructions will follow at that time. Also, as a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to your host to Richard Morin. Thank you, and good evening, everyone. Earlier today, we issued a news release announcing Cognex's earnings for the first quarter of 2016, and we've also filed our quarterly report on Form 10-Q. For those of you who have not yet seen these materials, both are available on our website at www.cognex.com. They contain highly detailed information about our financial results. During tonight's call, we may use a non-GAAP financial measure, if we believe it is useful to investors, or if we believe it will help investors better understand our results or business trends. For your reference, you can see a reconciliation of certain items from GAAP to non-GAAP in Exhibit 2 of the earnings release. I'd like to emphasize that any forward-looking statements we made in the earnings release or any that we may make during this call are based upon information that we believe to be true as of today. Things often change and actual results may differ materially from those projected or anticipated. You should refer to the company's SEC filings, including our most recent Form 10-K, for a detailed list of these risk factors. Now, I'll turn the call over to Cognex's Chairman, Dr. Bob Shillman.

A California court has dismissed part of a lawsuit brought by Twitter that challenges U.S. government restrictions on what it can say about surveillance requests on its users. Twitter sued the government in 2014, alleging that the restrictions, which are common to all Internet service providers, infringe its First Amendment right to free speech. Earlier this year, the Department of Justice asked the federal district court in Oakland, California, to toss out the lawsuit. It argued that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) is a more suitable venue to hear the dispute, and that part of Twitter's argument didn't stand because the company isn't disputing document classification decisions made by the government. On Monday, a judge agreed with the government's latter argument but denied its request to shift the case to FISC.

The artificial intelligence'sweet spot' in the legal industry is where legal expertise can be combined with technology to solve clients' repetitive problems, according to a NewLaw firm founder. Speaking with Lawyers Weekly, the managing director and founder of Hive Legal, Jodie Baker (pictured), said there is a place in the legal market where artificial intelligence can thrive. "That sweet spot is where the clients can really find something that's going to change the level of efficiency that they can achieve," Ms Baker said. "So it's looking for those areas where there are repetitive issues but it's not commoditised." Ms Baker said repetitive issues often arise in highly regulated industries and lawyers can improve their efficiency, as well as their clients', by embracing artificial intelligence.

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Thursday approved a rule change that would allow U.S. judges to issue search warrants for access to computers located in any jurisdiction when their location is unknown, despite opposition from civil liberties groups who say it will greatly expand the FBI's hacking authority. U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts transmitted the rules to Congress, which will have until Dec. 1 to reject or modify the changes to the federal rules of criminal procedure. If Congress does not act, the rules would take effect automatically. U.S. officials have portrayed the change as a common-sense administrative revision that is needed because criminals increasingly use technology to hide their true locations. The U.S. Justice Department, which has pushed the rule change since 2013, has described it as a minor modification needed to modernize the criminal code for the digital age, and has said it would not permit searches or seizures that are not already legal.

DoNotPay was a huge success, and the tech genius has now gone a step further with the website, converting it into a full fledged robo lawyer equipped to help with a range of legal issues. "I realised that the best way to help people would be to create a computer program that could talk to users, generate appeals, and answer questions like a human," he told Mashable. "The robot can currently handle parking ticket appeals, payment protection insurance (PPI) claims and delayed flights/trains. It can also answer some general legal questions like'I can't afford my ticket.

Did you know there is a 25% chance your cause of death will be due to environmental pollution? According the World Health Organization, some 12.6 million people--or nearly 1 in 4 worldwide--died in 2012 due to living or working in unhealthy conditions. In addition, environmental degradation seriously affects overall quality of life and the balance of Earth's ecosystems through loss of forests, open spaces, marine environments and biodiversity. While technological growth and industrialization historically contributed to such problems, the latest technologies--from robotics to artificial intelligence to biotechnology--will also help create healthier and greener industries benefiting both people and planet. While affordable electric and hybrid cars will help reduce pollution and use of fossil fuels, self-driving cars will make our whole transportation and logistics systems more efficient. Cars, trucks, ships, drones and jets that drive or pilot themselves and wirelessly communicate with each other can coordinate and optimize delivery of people and goods in ways requiring less energy.

Human Rights Watch and Harvard Law School's International Human Rights Clinic added to the urgency of the meeting by issuing a report calling for a complete ban on autonomous killer robots. It would undermine human dignity to be killed by a machine that can't understand the value of human life. "It would undermine human dignity to be killed by a machine that can't understand the value of human life," she says. The next meeting in Geneva is set for December, when a U.N. group will decide whether to formally start developing new international law governing killer robots.