Tech law seminar on generative AI

Key links

1. Tech law syllabus

Class 01 (Law and technology)

1. Read our syllabus.
2. Create a list of 100 potential future technologies. (If you use any sources or tools, cite them.) Bring a printed copy to class.
3. Read Law and Technology.

Class 02 (Problem-solving overview)

1. Reflect on how you solve problems. Then, create a flow chart showing your problem-solving process. Save your document as a PDF, name it "Class02 Flowchart.pdf", and upload it here using your UofSC credentials.
2. Read Peace Corps Theory of Change Model.
3. Read John Gilmore et al., Four Reasons Lawyers Fail to be Viewed as Strategic Advisors.
4. Read Ben W. Heineman, Jr., William F. Lee, and David B. Wilkins, Lawyers as Professionals and as Citizens: Key Roles and Responsibilities in the 21st Century (pages 9 to 16 only).
5. Read Questions for the Revised Bloom's Taxonomy.
6. Create a vignette for class: Prepare a talk that, in no more than 60 seconds, presents an issue to your colleagues. The issue can be a topic, a challenge, or an opportunity. For example, "Covid-19" is a topic, "South Carolina's vaccine rate is too low" is a challenge, and "Can we use what we've learned during the pandemic to reduce the impact of other diseases such as the flu?" is an opportunity. The issue does not need to be legal in nature (although it can be). It does need to be understandable and otherwise accessible to your colleagues -- and your talk should provide the information necessary for your colleagues to meaningfully analyze it. You should also be prepared to answer any questions your colleagues pose about the issue.
7. Read my summary of last year's course topic.
8. Read last year's deliverables under "Past Deliverables" on our course's Blackboard site.
9. Did your predecessors succeed?
10. What questions would you ask them?

Class 03 (Topic overview)

1. Read Law and Technology.
2. This semester we will use a structured problem-solving model to explore the implications of AI generation of text, images, and other material. This model will involve brainstorming challenges, framing an underlying problem, brainstorming solutions, and selecting and developing a best solution, and creating outputs with a view toward outcomes and impacts. ​Your charge is not to solve or even describe this entire topic but rather to make an original, credible, and meaningful contribution to an important dimension. Each step will require substantial research and reflection to combine knowledge, insights, and skills from inside and outside the law. In particular, many but not all of the frameworks, tools, impediments, risks, opportunities, issues, arguments, and strategies that you ultimate identify will involve law.
3. Reread the prior paragraph. It's important. What's the difference between your team's (1) best solution and (2) final deliverable?
4. Perform initial research to help you begin to scope and understand this topic.
5. Prepare questions to ask to help you understand the fundamental aspects of, research directions in, and potential next steps for our topic. Save your document as a PDF, name it "Class03 ExpertQuestions.pdf", and upload it here using your UofSC credentials.
6. Prepare an initial research strategy memo that sketches both a classwide research strategy and an individual research strategy. What are key procedural questions? What are key substantive questions? What subtopics seem especially important or interesting? What information, both in and outside law, would help to better identify problems and, eventually, solutions? What kinds of resources might help to produce that information? You may prepare this memo individually or in a group of your choice. Although I am far more interested in quality than quantity, I suggest about three succinct single-spaced pages per person in either prose or outline form. Save your document as a PDF, name it "Class03 StrategyMemo.pdf", and upload it here using your UofSC credentials.

Class 04 (Preliminary research)

1. Reflect on our class discussion, and record key notes and observations.
2. Update the two documents that you prepared for class three based on your reflection.
3. Review, and if you would like update, the subject you identified in class.
4. Review the other subjects in the document. If your subject potentially overlaps with a colleague's subject, ensure that you have coordinated with them by either collaborating or delineating the subjects so that you do not duplicate information. You can contact your colleagues through Outlook or Blackboard.
5. Research your subject using credible sources.
6. Create a concise outline that helpfully summarizes the results of your research into your subject. Your outline must include citations and be no more than one single-spaced page. Remember our discussion of essential versus extraneous detail. Acceptable outlines will make a meaningful contribution to our understanding of our course topic.
7. By Monday at 5pm eastern: Save your document as a PDF, name it "Class04 SubjectSummary.pdf", and upload it here using your UofSC credentials.
8. Read all of the outlines, identify connections and gaps, and prepare questions for discussion. You will not present your subject in class; rather, you will answer your classmates' questions. This will require you to know more about your subject than you have shared in your outline.
9. Document your inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes, and impacts in class three and in this week prior to class four.

Class 05 (General challenges)

1. Continue your research:
   1. Reflect on the collective class research to date and identify an important gap in that research: What more do you need to learn to be able to effectively explore our course topic.
   2. Describe the gap you identified in one sentence here.
   3. Review any other subjects already in the document. If your subject potentially overlaps with a colleague's subject, ensure that you have coordinated with them by either collaborating or delineating the subjects so that you do not duplicate information. You can contact your colleagues through Outlook or Blackboard.
   4. Research this subject using appropriate sources.
   5. Create another concise outline that helpfully summarizes the results of your research.
      1. Your outline must include citations and be no more than one single-spaced page.
      2. Remember our discussion of essential versus extraneous detail.
      3. Acceptable outlines will make a meaningful contribution to our understanding by synthesizing information rather than just collating it and by relating that information back to your specific subject and to our general course topic.
   6. By Monday at 10am eastern: Save your document as a PDF, name it "Class05 SubjectSummary.pdf", and upload it here using your UofSC credentials.
2. Individually brainstorm challenges related to our course topic.
   1. Spend at least two hours brainstorming.
   2. Think creatively! Consider both the obvious and the bold.
   3. The focus of your brainstorming should be challenges that do not involve specific legal issues. However, keep track of potential legal issues that arise in the course of your brainstorming.
   4. Write each challenge in the form of a complete sentence.
   5. Organize your list only after you have completed most of your brainstorming.
   6. By Monday at 10am eastern: Save your document as a PDF, name it "Class05 GeneralChallenges.pdf", and upload it here using your UofSC credentials.
   7. Bring your list to class.
3. Continue documenting your course-relevant inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes, and impacts in and outside class.

Class 06 (Legal challenges)

1. Add your team's list of challenges to this document.
2. Individually brainstorm legal challenges related to our course topic:
   1. You should identify some challenges through broad legal issue-spotting.
   2. You should then identify other challenges by focusing on one specific subject that would benefit from targeted legal research.
   3. As part of this targeted research, write a one-page memo to your colleagues connecting your research to the set of potential challenges that it illuminated.
   4. By Monday at 10am eastern: Save your research memo as a PDF, name it "Class06 LegalResearch.pdf", and upload it here using your UofSC credentials.
   5. Write each challenge in the form of a complete sentence.
   6. Organize your list only after you have completed most of your brainstorming.
   7. By Monday at 10am eastern: Save your list of legal challenges as a PDF, name it "Class06 LegalChallenges.pdf", and upload it here using your UofSC credentials.
   8. Bring your list to class.
   9. If you think of additional non-legal challenges in the course of your brainstorming or research, add them to this document.
   10. This list of legal areas may help you expand your subsequent in-class brainstorming.
3. Continue documenting your course-relevant inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes, and impacts in and outside class.
   1. This should include your contributions as well as the contributions of your team and your teammates during class five.
   2. Note, for example, how the challenges you brainstormed in preparation for class five were both an individual output and a team input.

Class 07 (Underlying problem)

1. Ensure your team has added its list of legal challenges to this document.
2. Read the general and legal research memos.
3. Read the general and legal challenges.
4. Review our course topic.
5. Reflect!
6. Read Thaisa Fernandes, "Learn About the "How Might We" Framework."
7. Reflect!
8. Carefully construct three compelling "How Might We" ("HMW") questions that each capture an essential element of our course topic. (To reach three compelling questions, you will likely need to generate many more initial HMW questions that you then broaden, narrow, combine, refine, or set aside.) Be prepared to explain why your three HMW questions are the most important. Save your three HMW questions as a PDF, name it "Class07 HMWQuestions.pdf", and upload it here using your UofSC credentials.
9. Continue documenting your course-relevant inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes, and impacts in and outside class.
10. In class: In your team, develop and carefully formulate three HMW questions. Add them to this document using your UofSC credentials.

Class 08 (Targeted research)

1. Review Thaisa Fernandes, "Learn About the "How Might We" Framework."
2. With your team, refine your HMW question so that it is focused on our course topic, scoped appropriately, conducive to generating creative and legally relevant solutions, and written clearly and concisely. As always, you are welcome to reach out to me individually or in your team.
3. Ensure that this document reflects your current HMW question. (You may continue to update it.)
4. With your team, identify and assign key subjects to research in order to eventually brainstorm potential solutions.
5. Research your assigned subject and prepare a memo for your teammates that synthesizes and analyzes your findings.
6. Save your document as a PDF, name it "Class08 ResearchMemo.pdf", and upload it here using your UofSC credentials.
7. (In class, you will have the opportunity to read, discuss, and present your teammates' memos.)
8. Continue documenting your course-relevant inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes, and impacts in and outside class.

Class 09 (Solutions)

1. Individually brainstorm solutions to your HMW question.
   1. Spend at least four hours brainstorming.
   2. Consider solutions directly related to law, indirectly related to law, and unrelated to law.
   3. Think creatively! Consider both the obvious and the bold.
   4. Your brainstorming should generate scores of potential solutions.
   5. Organize your list only after you have completed most of your brainstorming.
   6. By Monday, February 14th at 10am eastern: Save your document as a PDF, name it "Class09 Solutions.pdf", and upload it here using your UofSC credentials.
   7. Bring your list to class.
2. Continue documenting your course-relevant inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes, and impacts in and outside class.

Class 10 (Criteria)

1. Reflect on the expert interviews from our prior class.
2. Continue brainstorming solutions -- both individually and with your teammates. You may collaborate synchronously or asynchronously.
3. Ensure that each solution you and your teammates have generated over the last few weeks actually addresses your underlying problem (i.e., your HMW statement).
4. Phrase each solution as a full sentence (subject plus verb plus object) that provides enough information (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how...) to be understood and evaluated by an outside observer.
5. Update this document to include all the solutions that you and your teammates generated. Highlight in yellow your three most creative solutions.
6. Think about how -- both procedurally and substantively -- you would evaluate solutions. In other words, how would you go about evaluating them? And what would matter in your evaluation? Bring your thoughts to class.
7. Continue documenting your course-relevant inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes, and impacts in and outside class.

Class 11 (Best solution)

1. This class (including the week prior) is yours to use as your team sees fit, including by consulting with me. (During our class session, I will be in the law school courtyard and available online.)
2. Develop your best solution by exploring and then elaborating the who, what, where, when, why, and how with a particular view toward law. Legal aspects might include legal frameworks, tools, procedures, constraints, conditions, opportunities, challenges, implications, arguments, and alternatives and involve legal substance, legal process, fact, policy, and practicality.
3. Make sure you understand the assignments for classes 12 and 13 (below), including the specific deadlines.
4. Continue documenting your course-relevant inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes, and impacts in and outside class.

Class 12 (Best solution)

1. By Friday, April 1st at noon eastern: As a team, share a clear, careful, and legally grounded explanation of your best solution. This explanation should be no more than five single-spaced pages (or the equivalent in some other format). Post one or more files or links in this folder.
2. By Monday, April 4th at 10am eastern: Carefully review the explanations of all five best solutions. Be prepared to workshop these solutions by questioning, critiquing, issue-spotting, buttressing, developing, extending, refining, and applying them.
3. During class on Monday, April 4th:
   1. Pitch your best solution in 1 minute. Your pitch should be clear, careful, and compelling: Plan every word from your first to your last.
   2. Facilitate a 20-minute classwide discussion of your team's solution.
   3. Actively participate in the discussions of the other solutions.
4. Continue documenting your course-relevant inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes, and impacts in and outside class.

Class 13 (Next steps)

1. Analyze a legal issue related to your best solution, and write a legal memo that summarizes your analysis. You may work individually, with a partner, or with your team. Your memo should include the names of every person who substantially contributed and should be no longer than four single-spaced pages per person.
2. By Friday, April 8th at noon eastern: Save your document as a PDF, name it "Class13 LegalMemo.pdf", and upload it here using your UofSC credentials. Even if you work with others, each person must individually upload this memo.
3. Come to class prepared to reflect on:
   1. Potential next steps for your team's best solution.
   2. Our course topic.
   3. Law and technology generally.
   4. Our problem-solving process.
   5. Our semester.
4. By Friday, April 15th at noon eastern:
   1. Review the course schedule, check every assignment submission form, and confirm you have timely submitted every required assignment. Missing an assignment is unacceptable.
   2. Save your record of your inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes, and impacts over the semester as a PDF, name it "Class13 CourseAccomplishments.pdf", and upload it here using your UofSC credentials. If you have documented your work in a form that cannot be effectively captured in a PDF, contact me directly.