In terms of synthetic intelligence, I’ve heard multiple lawyer say, “I don’t have to know the way it works, I simply have to know whether it is authorized.” That is sort of a pilot saying, “I don’t have to understand how the engines work, I simply have to know if we will take off.” You may get airborne, however I might not guide a ticket.
AI merchandise don’t exist in a vacuum. They’re the product of numerous technical choices, every with potential authorized penalties. For in-house counsel, understanding the mechanics of AI is now not non-compulsory. It’s the basis for giving recommendation that truly works in the actual world.
A New Skillset For A New Period
The previous mannequin, the place engineers construct and legal professionals approve, is breaking down. AI techniques usually are not static merchandise. They study, adapt, and make choices in ways in which blur the road between design and deployment. Reviewing them solely on the finish of improvement is simply too late to catch lots of the most severe dangers.
Right now’s in-house product counsel wants a twin fluency. You will need to have the ability to grasp how an AI mannequin operates whereas mapping these particulars onto quickly evolving authorized frameworks. This mixture means that you can enter product discussions not solely as a danger supervisor however as a associate in shaping design selections.
Understanding The Technical Facet
You do not want to be an engineer, however you must have the ability to comply with a dialog about coaching datasets, mannequin structure, and efficiency testing. This implies partaking together with your product groups early and asking for explanations which might be clear and concise. Understanding whether or not a mannequin is generative or predictive, the way it was educated, and the way it will likely be examined for equity and accuracy will let you know much more about potential authorized publicity than a product launch deck ever may.
Seeing The Authorized Dangers Early
We’ve got already seen examples of what occurs when authorized and technical groups work in isolation. An AI hiring software that realized to want one gender over one other. An artwork generator educated on copyrighted photographs with out permission. These weren’t inevitable outcomes. They had been the results of missed alternatives to ask the best questions earlier than the product was locked in.
When counsel understands the technical structure, potential issues might be noticed whereas they’re nonetheless cheap and possible to repair. By the point the product is reside, those self same points might be expensive, public, and much harder to resolve.
The Value Of Staying In One Lane
In case you keep solely within the authorized lane, you might miss the refined methods an AI’s design can introduce bias, create explainability gaps, or run afoul of privateness legal guidelines. In case you focus solely on the technical facet, you may underestimate how a single compliance failure can escalate right into a regulatory investigation or a reputational disaster. Both method leaves essential dangers unaddressed and potential worth untapped.
Constructing Your AI Fluency
For in-house counsel, constructing fluency begins with curiosity. Attend engineering demos, sit in on technical critiques, and ask your product groups to stroll you thru how their techniques make choices. Hold monitor of developments in AI regulation, not solely in your house jurisdiction however in each market the place your product may function. Create methods to translate authorized necessities into technical design selections and vice versa, so each groups are talking the identical language.
This isn’t about turning into a programmer. It’s about understanding sufficient to attach the dots between technical realities and authorized outcomes.
The Payoff
When in-house counsel can converse each AI and regulation, they transfer from being the ultimate checkpoint earlier than launch to being a trusted associate in innovation. They assist design merchandise which might be extra compliant, extra clear, and extra resilient to each market and regulatory stress.
In an AI-driven world, translation between code and case regulation is just not a peripheral ability. It’s a core management functionality that separates the groups who merely launch merchandise from those that launch merchandise constructed to final.
Olga V. Mack is the CEO of TermScout, an AI-powered contract certification platform that accelerates income and eliminates friction by certifying contracts as honest, balanced, and market-ready. A serial CEO and authorized tech govt, she beforehand led an organization via a profitable acquisition by LexisNexis. Olga can be a Fellow at CodeX, The Stanford Heart for Authorized Informatics, and the Generative AI Editor at regulation.MIT. She is a visionary govt reshaping how we regulation—how authorized techniques are constructed, skilled, and trusted. Olga teaches at Berkeley Regulation, lectures broadly, and advises firms of all sizes, in addition to boards and establishments. An award-winning normal counsel turned builder, she additionally leads early-stage ventures together with Digital Gabby (Higher Parenting Plan), Product Regulation Hub, ESI Movement, and Notes to My (Authorized) Self, every rethinking the apply and enterprise of regulation via know-how, information, and human-centered design. She has authored The Rise of Product Attorneys, Authorized Operations within the Age of AI and Information, Blockchain Worth, and Get on Board, with Visible IQ for Attorneys (ABA) forthcoming. Olga is a 6x TEDx speaker and has been acknowledged as a Silicon Valley Lady of Affect and an ABA Lady in Authorized Tech. Her work reimagines folks’s relationship with regulation—making it extra accessible, inclusive, data-driven, and aligned with how the world really works. She can be the host of the Notes to My (Authorized) Self podcast (streaming on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube), and her insights recurrently seem in Forbes, Bloomberg Regulation, Newsweek, VentureBeat, ACC Docket, and Above the Regulation. She earned her B.A. and J.D. from UC Berkeley. Comply with her on LinkedIn and X @olgavmack.
