Ariel, the magician’s “trusty spirit”, speaks with Prospero in The Tempest about magic bringing about a “sea change”, a transformative power creating something “rich and strange”.
As befits a lawyer who read English at Oxford, Jonathan Kewley drew on Shakespeare to describe artificial intelligence in a lecture earlier this month. The solicitor, who was awarded the title of partner of the year at the British Legal Awards last month, is co-head of the Clifford Chance tech group, a cross-disciplinary team of more than 600 lawyers advising on tech risk and opportunity.
“When I use AI in my daily life,” said Kewley, “its power and potential often leaves me in a state of shock and awe. Be in no doubt: we are currently witnessing something quite extraordinary. We’ve evolved through the Stone Age, the Iron Age. We now find ourselves in the Intelligence Age.”
But Kewley had a warning for us all. “This modern magic can turn dark,” he said:
At the end of The Tempest, Prospero relinquishes his magic and releases his spirit assistant Ariel. “I’ll break my staff,” he says. “I’ll drown my book.” But we cannot walk away from AI now.
Let’s not sleep-walk into this. Let’s shape the future of AI by putting humans at the centre. Wake up, embrace the opportunity with our eyes wide open. The real magic rests in getting the balance right.
Kewley had been invited to speak at the Central Criminal Court by Alderman Gregory Jones, the first practising KC to serve as one of the City of London’s two sheriffs. His lecture and the discussion that followed were part of the City and Legal programme of events chosen to promote the Old Bailey as an international forum for exploring the rule of law and the interaction between the law and business.
I must declare an interest: Jones has invited me to speak at the court in February about freedom of speech and transparency. Other discussions in the new year will cover crypto-assets, smarter financial regulation, infrastructure and climate change.
As Kewley said, AI can also be dangerous — just as the first motor cars were created without safety in mind. It is leading to errors in hiring and firing staff in the workplace. It could cause a flash crash in the financial markets. It can even lead to deaths. But, as a solicitor, Kewley deeply believed in the power of law to keep this magic in check.
That’s what we discussed in a fascinating episode of A Lawyer Talks. My regular podcast is a bonus for paying subscribers to A Lawyer Writes. Everyone else can hear a short taster by clicking the ► symbol above.
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