SRI Seminar Series: Daniel E. Ho

Our weekly SRI Seminar Series welcomes Daniel E. Ho, a professor of law, political science, and computer science at Stanford University, and the director of the Stanford RegLab, which partners with government agencies to design and evaluate programs, policies, and technologies that modernize government. In this talk, Ho will examine the recent surge in AI-powered tools within legal practice, exploring recent efforts to analyze and address how these tools can “hallucinate” or generate false information, posing significant risks in high-stakes settings. This session will be moderated by Anna Su.

Talk title: “Large legal fictions: Assessing the reliability of AI in legal research”

Abstract: Legal practice has witnessed a sharp rise in products incorporating artificial intelligence (AI). Such tools are designed to assist with a wide range of core legal tasks, from search and summarization of case law to document drafting. But the large language models used in these tools are prone to “hallucinate,” or make up false information, making their use risky in high-stakes domains. This talk will discuss recent efforts to profile hallucinations in such tools.

Suggested reading:

Varun Magesh, Faiz Surani, Matthew Dahl, Mirac Suzgun, Christopher D. Manning, and Daniel E. Ho.
“Hallucination-free? Assessing the reliability of leading AI legal research tools,” (2024).

Matthew Dahl, Varun Magesh, Mirac Suzgun, and Daniel E. Ho. “Large legal fictions: Profiling legal hallucinations in large language models,” Journal of Legal Analysis 16(1) (2024): 64–93.

About the speaker

Daniel E. Ho is the William Benjamin Scott and Luna M. Scott Professor of Law, professor of political science, professor of computer science (by courtesy), senior fellow at Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI), and senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. He is also a faculty fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences and director of the Regulation, Evaluation, and Governance Lab (RegLab) at Stanford University.

Ho serves on the National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee (NAIAC), advising the White House on artificial intelligence, as senior advisor on responsible AI at the U.S. Department of Labor, and as a public member of the Administrative Conference of the United States. He is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He received his JD from Yale Law School and PhD from Harvard University and clerked for Judge Stephen F. Williams on the U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit.

About the SRI Seminar Series

The SRI Seminar Series brings together the Schwartz Reisman community and beyond for a robust exchange of ideas that advance scholarship at the intersection of technology and society. Seminars are led by a leading or emerging scholar and feature extensive discussion.

To register for all seminar events in the Fall 2024 season, please contact us directly at sri.research@utoronto.ca.

About the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society

The Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society is a research institute at the University of Toronto that explores the ethical and societal implications of technology. Our mission is to deepen knowledge of technologies, societies, and humanity by integrating research across traditional boundaries to build human-centred solutions.

Explore each session in advance by visiting SRI’s Events page.

Missed an event? Visit SRI’s YouTube channel to watch previous seminars.