Episode 70 - Reinventing the Legal Ecosystem – The rule of law and role of lawyers in AI and technology

With many of our guests we’ve discussed how technology is driving change at a pace that is as overwhelming as it is pervasive. We no longer work or live the same way we used to - change is challenging and shaking the foundations of who we are and what we do. These are big and small questions. They are as frightening as they are exhilarating.

In this episode we discussed Professor Gillian Hadfield’s ground breaking work in identifying and finding answers to these questions (and many more). Her most recent book, Rules for a Flat World: Why Humans Invented Law and How to Reinvent It for a Complex Global Economy, is a case in point. Gillian is  the Schwartz Reisman Chair in Technology and Society, Professor of Law and Professor of Strategic Management. She is also the Director of the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law.

Topics discussed in this episode included:

• What’s is AI, really?
• How is the interdependence/co-dependence of humans and tech/AI changing and shaping a different set of questions to answer?
• What is the role of and how do we build or maintain the rule of law? Should we?
• How can a legal system, in many countries built on precedents, an adversarial approach to dispute resolution and risk aversion, stay relevant and protect consumers when the structure and rules it was built on are being challenged and redefined daily?
• Can we find answers to the big and small questions other than through inter or multidisciplinary collaboration?
• In our world today, how do we understand and manage all this complexity?
• What is the role of lawyers in all of this?

Thank you so much for an exhilarating discussion, Gillian  – we love your work!