Book Review: The AI Con – A Critical Look At AI Hype
Jerry Lawson reviews Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna’s new book, The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want (Harper 2025).
Category «Book Reviews»
Richard Susskind on AI for Lawyers: A Review of ‘How to Think About AI’
Whether you’re writing briefs, litigating high-stakes matters, lobbying policymakers or just trying to future-proof a career, Jerry Lawson affirms that Susskind’s book on legal AI gives you enough clarity to steer rather than drift. And in the AI era, that might be the most practical gift of all.
Recognizing And Dealing With AI Snake Oil
Jerry Lawson reviews Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor’s new book, What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can’t, and How to Tell the Difference is a timely wake-up call amidst today’s AI hype. Narayanan and Kapoor are on a mission to help readers separate genuine AI advances from “snake oil” – the bogus or overhyped claims that too often swirl around artificial intelligence. For lawyers and regulators grappling with AI, Narayanan and Kapoor’s analysis provides a much-needed reality check on both the technology’s potential and its pitfalls.
Book Review: Generative AI For Dummies
Jerry Lawson’s opinion of the new book, Generative AI for Dummies, is that it demystifies the complex world of generative AI for audiences from all walks of life. If you’re after a fast, engaging, and practical introduction to AI—and maybe even a little chuckle or two along the way—this book delivers.
Book Review – Watchdogs: Inspectors General and the Battle for Honest and Accountable Government
The 2024 election results have prompted discussion about the effectiveness of “guardrails” that might restrain Presidential activities that could harm the nation. Jerry Lawson’s review notes that Glenn Fine’s new book, Watchdogs: Inspectors General and the Battle of Honest and Accountable Government is a timely and welcome contribution to the national debate. Fine has had considerable experience with Offices of Inspectors General (OIGs), one of the key institutions that serve as limits to corrupt or overreaching Executive Branch actions.
Artificial Intelligence and Unconscious Bias Risk
Elizabeth Sweetland reviews: Meredith Broussard, More than a Glitch: Confronting Race, Gender, and Ability Bias in Tech (MIT Press 2023). 248 Pages. Available from MIT Press, Barnes and Noble and Amazon.
Publishing for Profit: Selecting the Best Publisher
Jerry Lawson offers his expert advise on how lawyers (and other ambitious people) can profit by publishing. One method is to begin by focusing on your desired result. What are the best publishers for you and your work product? Lawson offers a couple of ways to identify the potential publishers likely to provide the most benefit.
After the Ivory Tower Falls: A Book Review
Among the main strengths of this important, highly readable book, says David H. Rothman, is its history of how we got into the mess in the first place. We blew our chance by not making higher education more of a tax-supported public good with academic values prevailing over commercial ones. The GI Bill and other measures helped, but what if the aid had been even more extensive with far less reliance on the marketplace? Even elite Ivy schools got caught up in the mania—wildly overpaying administrators and indulging in ever-more-expensive dorms and gyms and other luxuries to compete for the students from well-off families most likely to donate. So much for the poor and middle class, even with scholarships. The result was that America squandered brainpower.
Book Review: A Short And Happy Guide To Advanced Legal Research
Nicole L. Black’s review highlights this book’s breadth of coverage and its format, information about a variety of free online tools, including public records databases, newsletters, and encyclopedias, and case law and statutes, fee-based legal research tools, as well as traditional case law and statutory research tools, and cutting edge AI-based legal research and data analytics software.
50 Lessons For Women Lawyers From Women Lawyers
Nicole Black recommends a recent book written by women lawyers for women lawyers. The 50 different lessons are from 50 different women lawyers with diverse career paths that inform their unique perspectives and useful advice.