Scaling Laws How AI Can Transform Local Criminal Justice, with Francis Shen
Jan 13, 2026
In this engaging discussion, Francis Shen, a Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota and director of the Shen Neurolaw Lab, explores the innovative intersection of AI and criminal justice. He highlights how AI can enhance criminal investigations and improve clearance rates. Shen advocates for precision sentencing to tailor justice to individual cases while addressing ethical concerns around AI bias. He urges for transparent implementation of AI in local governance, building public trust and institutional capacity for a more effective justice system.
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Brains Explain Behavior And AI Parallels
- Neuroscience links law to why people behave, revealing mental states behind actions.
- Francis Shen connects this to AI as another form of information processing that can augment human decision-making.
LLMs Reshaped Legal AI Possibilities
- Large language models are a recent, transformative subset of AI that changed access and use.
- Francis Shen notes earlier AI work focused on robotics and brain-machine interfaces, but LLMs reshaped legal AI applications.
Collect Better Data Before Scaling AI
- Use AI to build predictive models that individualize interventions for people cycling through the justice system.
- Prioritize gathering quality data to avoid garbage in, garbage out and biased outcomes.
