Everyone’s legal predictions for 2023 seem to include the growing prominence of artificial intelligence. But what do the machines themselves think? Well, I decided to ask, and I felt both a measure of relief and disappointment when ChatGPT responded, “I’m sorry, but as a language model, I don’t have the ability to make predictions about the future. Additionally, it’s not within my capabilities to provide legal advice or make predictions about legal developments.”

Phew. My function in society is safe for at least a few more days, even if the bot and I quickly got to talking about recent court cases involving artificial intelligence, and ChatGPT seemed a little too excited to let me know about Let’s Go LLC v. Hennepin County. In that lawsuit, according to ChatGPT (I couldn’t find any record of this case), a ride-sharing company challenged a Minnesota city’s ticketing system that was based on A.I.-assisted analysis of traffic camera footage. The company tried to argue that the system violated due process and was unfairly biased against its drivers. Long story short: The use of A.I. won out. As ChatGPT couldn’t help but add cheekily: “A.I. is an increasingly important and controversial area of the law, and it is likely that we will see many more legal cases involving A.I. in the future.” At least we can agree on that. 

Here are a few other predictions: