Should ChatGPT Be In Law School?

Stephen Embry (TechLaw Crossroads), Should ChatGPT Be In Law School?:

Lots of questions and unease surround the use of ChatGPT in the classroom and education. The issue may be particularly acute for law schools and professors. Law schools are charged with teaching core legal concepts that (should) equip students to practice law.

Many law school professors reportedly question how they can do that if students can have the concepts laid out for them by ChatGPT. Even ChatGPT questions how this can be done if students can use ChatGPT on such things as exams.

Says ChatGPT, “Law school exams are typically designed to test a student’s ability to think critically and apply legal reasoning, which is something that cannot be easily replicated by an AI language model. Allowing students to use an AI language model could make it difficult to assess their true understanding of the law and their ability to apply legal principles.”

Some professors (albeit not law professors) have reportedly gone so far as to require students to write first drafts in the classroom, using browsers that monitor and restrict computer activity. And in later drafts, students will be required to explain each revision.

But law schools that think hiding your head in the sand is a good way to prepare students to be lawyers are misguided. (yes, I believe the ChatGPT answer was a hallucination). There’s little doubt that generative AI is here to stay and will impact those in all walks of life. Thinking that law school graduates won’t harness the power of tools like ChatGPT is foolhardy. And those who do will be at a decided disadvantage. ...

I go back to something Pablo Arrendondo told me. I asked him if tools like generative AI would replace lawyers. As I previously reported, he told me, “the lawyers that will be replaced are the ones that don’t use these tools.”

The great lawyer of the future will marry their talents and knowledge with the abilities of computers so that they can both do what they do best. Law schools need to devote themselves to preparing students to be those great lawyers.

(Hat Tip: Darryl Towell)

Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:

• A Human Being Wrote This Law Review Article: GPT-3 And The Practice Of Law (May 11, 2022)
• The Implications Of OpenAI’s Assistant For Legal Services And Society (Dec. 7, 2022)
• ChatGPT And Law School Exams (Dec. 29, 2022)
• GPT Will Soon Be Able To Pass The Multistate Bar Exam (Jan. 5, 2023)
• Using ChatGPT To Write Law School Exams, Bar Exams, And Strategic Plans (Jan. 11, 2023)
• ChatGPT Gets B|B- Grade On Wharton MBA Exam (Jan. 24, 2023)
• ChatGPT Gets C+ Grade On Four Minnesota Law School Exams (C- In Tax) (Jan. 24, 2023)
• The Rise Of The Robotic Tax Analyst (Jan. 27, 2023)
• Ryznar: Exams In The Time Of ChatGPT (Feb. 1, 2023)
• Bishop Posts Two Papers On ChatGPT (Feb. 8, 2023)
• ChatGPT Almost Passed The Bar, But Competent Lawyers Do Much More (Feb. 23, 2023)
• It’s Not Just Our Students: ChatGPT Is Coming For Faculty Scholarship (Feb. 25, 2023)
• New AI Detector Is 97% Effective In Catching Students Cheating With ChatGPT (Feb. 28, 2023)
• It’s Not Just Our Students: ChatGPT Is Coming For Faculty Scholarship (Feb. 25, 2023)
• ChatGPT's Tax Advice Was Wrong 100% Of The Time (Mar. 7, 2023)
• Does ChatGPT Produce Fishy Briefs? (Mar. 8, 2023)
• Colleges (And Law Schools) Are Rushing To Respond To ChatGPT (Mar. 9, 2023)
• Was The Sermon You Heard At Church Today Written By ChatGPT? (Mar. 12, 2023)
• GPT-4 Beats 90% Of Aspiring Lawyers On The Bar Exam (Mar. 17, 2023)
• ChatGPT Thinks I Am Way More Interesting Than I Am (Mar. 22, 2023)
• Should ChatGPT Be In Law School? (Mar. 30, 2023)
• Merritt: GPT-4 On Legal Education And Lawyer Licensing (Apr. 4, 2023)
• Turnitin Plagiarism Detector Will Catch Students Who Cheat With ChatGPT With 98% Accuracy (Apr. 5, 2023)
• ChatGPT Gets 148 (37th Percentile) And 157 (70th Percentile) On The LSAT (Apr. 6, 2023)
• AI Tools for Lawyers: A Practical Guide (Apr. 6, 2023)