How Maryland’s law schools approach AI in curriculum, research

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With the rise in popularity of artificial intelligence, Maryland’s two law schools have approached using and discussing the technology in a variety of ways.

While the University of Baltimore School of Law and the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law differ slightly in the extent to which AI is used in the curriculum, professors at both law schools agree that AI is a topic and technology to be learned as part of expanding a law student and legal professional’s digital literacy.

At the University of Baltimore School of Law, some professors have asked students to run certain assignments through AI engines to compare the output with what the student might have written otherwise, as well as experimenting with using AI for help in drafting some documents.

Colin Starger, associate dean for academic affairs at the University of Baltimore School of Law, said it’s important to understand how AI can be harnessed.

“There’s a perennial shortage of lawyers and access to justice is a perennial problem,” Starger said. “Maybe using AI is a way that can help bridge that gap and also provide individualized attention to students using well-trained models to help them improve their own legal writing or to help them study for the bar exam.”

The University of Maryland law school employs upper-level seminars that encourage students to examine and write about issues relating to AI, as well as holding workshops on AI for faculty. The law school also offers legal research and lawyering courses that discuss how to use AI responsibly, in addition to having an educational technology librarian who helps train faculty and students on different technologies.

Deborah Thompson Eisenberg, vice dean at Maryland Carey Law, said AI is a technology that must be navigated ethically and responsibly.

“I think any new technology has the potential to be disruptive either in a positive or negative way for the legal profession,” Eisenberg said. “It’s something that law schools need to pay attention to and train our students to be responsible and effective users of the new technology.”

At Maryland, Andrew Blair-Stanek is aiming to do just that.

Blair-Stanek, a professor at the school who has published several papers about Chat GPT and the law, administered spring 2023 final exams to Chat GPT-4. Blair-Stanek found the large language model performed about as well as a B or B+ student in most classes.

But Blair-Stanek cautioned that lawyers who rely on large language models can make simple errors.

“At the very best, the technology seems like a very smart paralegal,” Blair-Stanek said. “While it might be very smart, it’s also a very sloppy paralegal.”

Blair-Stanek said discussions about how to integrate the programs into the classroom at Maryland are ongoing.

Michele Gilman, associate dean for faculty research and development at the University of Baltimore School of Law, focuses her research on the intersection of data-centric technologies and the needs and interests of low-income communities.

Gilman, who has represented people experiencing poverty in Baltimore for more than 25 years, said she has seen different technologies adversely impact her clients over time.

“I find it very concerning that the voices of impacted communities aren’t part of decisions to deploy AI or part of the design process in AI,” Gilman said. “A lot of this is driven by profit motive on the part of companies and a desire to save money on the part of the government and low-income communities end up paying the price.”

For example, Gilman said state agencies have adopted algorithmic decision-making systems and Gilman said her clients reported being denied benefits or having their benefits reduced without receiving an explanation.

Gilman emphasized the importance of teaching AI in the law school curriculum.

“Lawyers have an ethical responsibility to be competent and part of competency now is understanding technology, both in how you use it in law practice and how it impacts your clients,” Gilman said, noting a balanced approach should be used. “We have to be teaching this to students or they won’t be ethical lawyers.”