This post started as a response to Jen Reynolds’s comment about my Avatar Mediation post. It has grown into this new post about AI generally, growing anxiety about it and the state of the world, and how we can manage this anxiety. AI Risks . . . and Potential Benefits Jen wrote, “I hope that … Continue reading AI, ADR, and Anxiety
I have been reading the classic dystopian novel, 1984, which has eerie echoes in the present day. It is modeled on Stalinist Russia and Nazi Germany and “examines the role of truth and facts within societies and the ways in which they can be manipulated,” according to the Wikipedia summary. It takes place in Oceania, … Continue reading 1984 in 2023
I’m sure no techie, but probably like you, I have been intrigued about stories about the ChatGPT program. One illustration was in my post, A Mediator and a Bot Walk into a Bar … Of course, artificial intelligence almost certainly will become much more sophisticated in the foreseeable future. Major tech firms have been working … Continue reading Avatar Mediation
From George Siedel: The ABA Business Law Section publishes Business Law Today, which recently started a tools section. Here is a link to my piece on negotiation tools. Take a look. [From the home page, click on the title of this post to access the tools.]
It may be a weird time to suggest getting rid of bar exams considering that bar exams will soon include questions about client counseling and advising, negotiation and dispute resolution, and client relationship and management. Inclusion of these subjects on the bar exam could lead to welcome changes in legal education to better prepare law … Continue reading Should We Get Rid of the Bar Exam?
All this AI stuff is bending my mind. It’s been around for quite a while, but the experience with ChatGPT has profoundly changed our perceptions, feelings, and expectations about it. We wonder what human skills and tasks will become obsolete as machines are able to perform some so much better, faster, and cheaper. People have … Continue reading AI and Empathy
Black’s Law Dictionary definition of “smoking gun” could be Dominion Voting System’s brief supporting its motion for summary judgment against Fox “News.” Dominion’s argument is summed up in a Washington Post headline, “Fox News feared losing viewers by airing truth about election, documents show. ‘Everything at stake here,’ billionaire founder Rupert Murdoch wrote to a … Continue reading Fox’s Smoking Gun
From Jen Shack, the director of research for Resolution Systems Institute (RSI), which is a fabulous organization doing great work in our field: RSI is looking for a new PhD researcher to join our expanding research and evaluation department. We’re looking for someone who is interested in qualitative research, including focus groups, interviews, mediation observations, … Continue reading RSI is Hiring a Researcher
New York Times columnist David Brooks wrote a touching essay about his reactions to a lifelong friend’s struggle with depression and ultimate suicide. Mr. Brooks gave Pete advice about how to deal with his depression – and found that his efforts were counterproductive. It’s only later that I read that when you give a depressed … Continue reading The Gift of Really Listening
Some of you know John Stephens, a colleague at the University of North Carolina School of Government, who has focused on conflict resolution for his long career. Like many of us, he was intrigued by ChatGPT and gave the following prompt and got the following response. Describe and contrast three main models of mediation for … Continue reading A Mediator and a Bot Walk into a Bar …
