Tech

Criminal Risk Algorithm

Criminal Risk Assessments: Secret Algorithms, Flawed Results and a Black-Box Future

Increasingly, criminal sentencing decisions are guided in part by sophisticated computer algorithms that aim to predict, among other things, a convict’s likelihood to re-offend. While the likelihood of recidivism is clearly central to sentencing, some are sounding alarms over the opacity of the so-called “risk assessments,” which are often derived from formulas that are proprietary…

Computer Processors

AMD Heats up the Processor Wars With Cooler Chips

After laying dormant for years, Advanced Micro Devices (AMDs) are back with a fresh new round of products to compete against Intel and Nvidia. Team Blue: Central Processing Champion The history of central processing units (CPUs) has more or less revolved around Intel. The front runner of microprocessors began its legacy with the 4004 in…

Smart Devices

The Lights Are On, But Nobody’s Home: Are Smart Devices Ready for the Office?

 

The office is empty. Everyone else left hours earlier. I’m sitting in an armchair opposite my desk holding an expense report for an ad campaign. It is basic addition, but the rows are running together. I look over at the Echo Dot on the desk just outside my office. I shout “Hey Alexa.” She swirls…

Internet Provider Cashing In On Browser History

Internet Providers Are Cashing In on Your Browser History

  

Since the appointment of former Verizon lawyer Ajit Pai to chair the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), internet service providers (ISPs) have received a steady stream of good news from Washington. Last December, Pai indicated his desire to take a “weed whacker” to many FCC regulations. With full control off the government, Pai and congressional Republicans…

Courtroom Technology

Cameras, Live Streaming: What’s Next for Courtroom Technology

 

Netflix, Hulu . . . the 9th Circuit? On February 7, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals had its moment in the streaming media spotlight when it live-streamed audio of a contentious hearing on President Trump’s controversial travel ban. The tech-savvy, San Francisco-based court’s YouTube stream alone had over 136,000 listeners at its peak. The…

Legal Aid Funding

Trump Budget Would Eliminate Legal Aid Funding

 

Veterans, people facing eviction or foreclosure, and domestic-violence survivors would lose access to legal aid services under the federal budget proposed by President Trump. Trump released an outline of his 2018 budget proposal on March 16. To pay for significant funding increases for the military, homeland security and veterans, Trump moved for deep cuts to…

Fake News

Is Fake News a Free Market Problem?

 

Since the 2016 presidential election, the term “fake news” has resurfaced in the vocabulary describing our current media landscape. False stories about Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton spread across social media leading up to the election, with over 30 million shares of stories favoring Trump and 8 million shares of stories favoring Clinton on Facebook.…

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence Isn’t Replacing Lawyers but It Can Make Them More Efficient

 

Continuous developments in machine learning technology carry implications for the way firms of all sizes will manage workloads and business development. Although it has not been as widely accepted in the legal community as in other industries, artificial intelligence (AI) is quickly becoming recognized as a viable tool that can be used to improve the…

Legal News

Powered by Law Firm Newswire