Jill Backer,left, associate dean for professional development and alumni affairs of Ave Maria Law School and Samantha Sanchez,right,. Courtesy photos Jill Backer,left, associate dean for professional development and alumni affairs of Ave Maria Law School and Samantha Sanchez,right,. Courtesy photos

Associate Dean's Perspective

Law school is a time for a student to learn legal skills required for the practice of law. The promulgation of artificial intelligence (AI) and its use by law students would stymie the educational process of the law school curricular and noncurricular learning. Therefore, let us allow law students to learn the proper skills and habits of a lawyer before offering unreliable short-cuts to the mix. In fact, utilization of AI short-cuts can lead to ineffective and unethical results.

The role of AI and especially ChatGPT could be a game changer in legal education on the same scale that the introduction of personal computers changed legal education. Having answers to legal questions at your fingertips is convenient and easy using ChatGPT but it is NOT reliable. Using ChatGPT is not only like handing in someone else's work product but not knowing if that work product is from a good student! Law schools must be clear with their Honor Code language that ChatGPT cannot replace learning and cannot be used ethically in the student's work.

Learning innovative technology has been a hallmark of any proper legal education over the last 30 years. From learning to utilize electronic legal research tools such as WestLaw and Lexis to electronic filings with the courts, law students have led the way in the firms they joined with their digital native status. Law school does not enable Luddites, instead seeking to create a more efficient and thoughtful approach to learning legal skills for a new millennium.