Chicago Law School bans phones and laptops for first-years to combat AI reliance

Chicago Law bans phones and laptops from first-year classes to combat AI

July 9 (Reuters) - Incoming law students at the University of Chicago will be barred from using phones and laptops in required first-year courses in a bid to curb their AI usage under a new AI policy, opens new tab the school unveiled Thursday. The laptop and phone ban is part of a broader AI strategy the law school developed over the past year to ensure that "students actually learn to think critically, strategically, and independently without relying on AI," before teaching them to use those tools later on, according to the new policy. The AI policy appears to be among the most restrictive to be adopted by a U.S. law school. Chicago Law Dean Adam Chilton told Reuters he was unaware of any other school with a blanket first-year laptop and ⁠phone ban. The University of California, Berkeley School of Law in May debuted rules that drastically limit how students may use AI. Critics have said Berkeley's policy prohibits too many legitimate AI uses at a time when legal employers expect newly minted attorneys to know how to use the technology. Chilton said it was important to prepare students for situations in the classroom and in practice when they must answer legal questions on the spot without consulting AI. "AI is forcing us to ask ourselves, 'What are the essentially human skills that we should be training that AI can't replace?'" Chilton said in an interview. In Chicago's required first-year courses -- including constitutional law, torts, and property -- professors may appoint designated "scribes" who use electronic devices to take ⁠shared notes for the class under the new policy. All exams in those courses will be administered in class, without access to the internet, electronic files or apps. The school said it is piloting the new rules for the upcoming academic year. Chilton said he expects reaction from incoming students to be mixed, though he added that laptop bans previously imposed by individual Chicago professors have generally ⁠been well-received in the end by students who felt it improved their focus. AI will be incorporated into the required first-year legal research and writing course but will first focus on writing without AI before layering writing using AI on top, according to the new ⁠policy. Faculty will be able to experiment and develop their own AI policies for elective courses, though the phone and laptop ban and in-class testing will be the default. Chicago will still teach students AI -- it has added upper-level AI courses ⁠and started an AI lab where students learn to develop tools -- but it must ensure that instruction doesn't undermine foundational legal skills, Chilton said. Berkeley Law's AI crackdown highlights chatbot concerns AI training becomes mandatory at more US law schools AI startups court law students in fight for lawyer market Reporting by Karen Sloan; editing by Nate Raymond Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab * Suggested Topics: * Legal Industry Karen Sloan Thomson Reuters Karen Sloan reports on law firms, law schools, and the business of law. Reach her at [email protected]

University of Chicago Law School AI strategy bans phones, laptops in class for first year students

Sara Tenenbaum is the Senior Digital Producer for CBS News Chicago, overseeing editorial operations and social media, and covering breaking, local and community news. The University of Chicago Law School is banning first-year students from using phones and laptops in the classroom as part of a broader strategy to curb AI usage. In a long statement released Thursday, the law school wrote that they already see artificial intelligence impacting higher education and the legal profession. They said they spent the past year to reflect on how to adopt their curriculum and policies in response to AI, seeking input from their community, alumni, law firm leaders, business leaders, legal technology executives and law firm associates, as well as their faculty, staff and students. "The feedback we have received throughout this process has been consistent," they wrote. "We need to ensure that our students actually learn to think critically, strategically, and independently without relying on AI; but we also must face the reality that AI tools are already widely available to our students, and our graduates will be expected to be prepared to use them in legal practice." In response, the school said it's launching a three-prong strategy in which they will "develop AI-resilient pedagogy and assessment," elevate "'essential human' skills that distinguish excellent lawyers" and teach "responsible, effective, and ethical use of AI." As part of that strategy, first year law students will be prohibited from using electronic devices like laptops, tablets and phones in the classroom, university officials said. They said professors will be allowed to designate "classroom scribes" who can use electronic devices to take notes for the class, or authorize electronic device use in specific tech-reliant situations like interactive in-class polling. But overall electronic usage will be banned to "ensure students actually learn to think critically, strategically and independently without relying on AI." Other requirements will include legal research and writing classes that require students to write without using AI while using AI for research, revision and preparations for oral arguments, after which their writing and their use of AI will be reviewed. There will also be upper-level elective courses explicitly focusing on the use of AI and the creation of AI tools for legal work. "We recognize that no statement of an AI strategy or vision can be final," the school wrote. "Technology is changing too fast. Thus, all the changes we are currently making will be subject to review, reconsideration, and revision as we learn more and as both technology and the practice of law evolve."

University of Chicago Law School AI strategy bans 1st year students using phones, laptops in classroom

Sara Tenenbaum is the Senior Digital Producer for CBS News Chicago, overseeing editorial operations and social media, and covering breaking, local and community news. The University of Chicago Law School is banning first-year students from using phones and laptops in the classroom as part of a broader strategy to curb AI usage. In a long statement released Thursday, the law school wrote that they already see artificial intelligence impacting higher education and the legal profession. They said they spent the past year to reflect on how to adopt their curriculum and policies in response to AI, seeking input from their community, alumni, law firm leaders, business leaders, legal technology executives and law firm associates, as well as their faculty, staff and students. "The feedback we have received throughout this process has been consistent," they wrote. "We need to ensure that our students actually learn to think critically, strategically, and independently without relying on AI; but we also must face the reality that AI tools are already widely available to our students, and our graduates will be expected to be prepared to use them in legal practice." In response, the school said it's launching a three-prong strategy in which they will "develop AI-resilient pedagogy and assessment," elevate "'essential human' skills that distinguish excellent lawyers" and teach "responsible, effective, and ethical use of AI." As part of that strategy, first year law students will be prohibited from using electronic devices like laptops, tablets and phones in the classroom, university officials said. They said professors will be allowed to designate "classroom scribes" who can use electronic devices to take notes for the class, or authorize electronic device use in specific tech-reliant situations like interactive in-class polling. But overall electronic usage will be banned to "ensure students actually learn to think critically, strategically and independently without relying on AI." Other requirements will include legal research and writing classes that require students to write without using AI while using AI for research, revision and preparations for oral arguments, after which their writing and their use of AI will be reviewed. There will also be upper-level elective courses explicitly focusing on the use of AI and the creation of AI tools for legal work. "We recognize that no statement of an AI strategy or vision can be final," the school wrote. "Technology is changing too fast. Thus, all the changes we are currently making will be subject to review, reconsideration, and revision as we learn more and as both technology and the practice of law evolve."