A friend recently observed that people often perceive me as a proponent of using generative artificial intelligence (AI), as if I think that everyone should use it regardless of their needs, interests, or whether they use it responsibly.

But that’s not how I see myself.

I am a proponent of helping people create value, improve their work, and accomplish things that they couldn’t do without AI.

I’ve written quite a bit about AI for two reasons.  Using it has been one of the most satisfying experiences of my life, and I want to help others discover benefits they may miss because of concerns and stigma about AI.

My Great Pleasure in Creating with AI

People often tease me about how much I write during my so-called retirement.  Being a law professor was a meaningful career that gave me opportunities to write.  But my desire to develop ideas and write about them doesn’t depend on having a faculty position.

I have been writing seriously since law school, and there are still lots of things I want to say.  I get messages from people who have followed my work for a long time and thank me “for all I do.”  So I still write – and I’m having too much fun to retire from writing.

My professional life has been devoted to developing ideas, writing articles, creating educational materials, and suggesting ways to improve dispute resolution theory and practice.  I get great satisfaction from noticing problems, suggesting possible solutions, and producing things I hope others will find useful.

AI has dramatically expanded my ability to do that.  It has helped me become more creative, pursue more ideas, and produce work that I find really meaningful.  As a result, I have substantially increased the quantity of my work and improved its quality.

I describe this as working in centaur mode, combining complementary human and AI capabilities.  I provide the direction, ideas, experience, and judgment.  Through extended conversations with AI, I explore possibilities, clarify my thinking, and develop materials that I could not have produced otherwise.  Sometimes AI suggests something I hadn’t considered.  And sometimes it gets things spectacularly wrong, requiring me to tell it what to do differently.  I keep at it until I’m satisfied with the results.  The final product is my own work, reflecting my ideas and judgment, expressed better than I could have done without AI’s assistance.

I’m particularly proud of developing RPS Coach.  One mediator just wrote me saying that it has become an “integral part” of his mediation practice, allowing him to walk into each mediation better prepared.  He uses it to produce comprehensive pre-mediation briefs identifying the principal legal and factual disputes, assessing the parties’ respective positions, and developing potential avenues toward resolution.

A particularly enjoyable surprise is that, with AI’s help, I’ve started writing fictional short stories, something I have never done before.  One example is my mediation story.

I’m also proud of having become quite skilled at using AI effectively through an investment of time, experimentation, and practice.

It is an incredible gift to have a tool that helps me do more of what I value and enjoy. 

Helping Others Benefit from AI 

Having experienced benefits of using AI, I want to help others enjoy similar benefits.  This is particularly important for law students because AI can help them learn when they use it appropriately.  When graduates enter practice, they will need to know how to evaluate “AI slop” produced by lawyers, clients, and others, and they may be expected to use AI proficiently in their own work.

The stigma surrounding AI use may discourage students and others from exploring its possibilities, developing useful skills, and producing valuable work.  AI poses real risks, including over-reliance, inaccurate outputs, threats to privacy, and broader social and environmental harms.  It also offers significant potential benefits, and realizing them depends in large part on how thoughtfully and responsibly people use it to pursue their goals.

I write about AI to encourage people to look beyond the stigma, consider whether it might help them create value in their own lives, and, if they decide to use it, develop the skills to do so effectively.

They may discover, as I have, that there’s quite a lot of value – and pleasure – in the process.