Artificial Intelligence Writing Competition: Results Announced!

CLCT is pleased to announce the winners of the second annual Artificial Intelligence Writing Competition. In its second year, the writing competition returned with remarkable success! Open to law students worldwide, the competition more than doubled the number of submissions received in its first year. The quality of the papers and issues analyzed were outstanding, presenting a wide range of though-provoking arguments or proposing original paradigms to analyze novel legal challenges related to the use, and likely future uses, of new technologies.

This year’s competition was divided into two divisions: J.D. (or equivalent) and LL.M. students, and Doctoral law students. The winners, all of whom will receive cash prizes provided through grant funding by the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, are:

J.D. (equivalent) & LL.M. Student Division:

• First Place awarded to “AI and the Board: Practical and Legal Considerations for Augmenting Board Decision-Making with Artificial Intelligence and Its Impacts on Corporate Law,” by Jordan Cohen, Emory University School of Law, J.D. (expected 2020).
• Second Place awarded to “Examining the CFAA in the Context of Adversarial Machine Learning,” by Natalie Chyi, Cornell Law School, LL.M. in Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship (expected 2019).

 Doctoral Law Student Division:

• First Place awarded to “What Are You tAxIng About? Balancing Out the Tax System to Avoid the Consequences of Automation in the Welfare System,” by Vasiliki Koukoulioti, Queen Mary, University of London, Ph.D. in Law (expected 2021).

Special Mention:

• CLCT would also like to recognize an additional paper with a Special Mention, “Future-Proofing Robotics: Limiting Manufacturer Liability from Autonomous Processes,” by Ryan Whittington, Georgetown Law, J.D. (expected 2020).

Congratulations to this year’s winners, and thank you to all who contributed to the 2018-2019 Artificial Intelligence Writing Competition! CLCT is once again impressed by the excellent submissions it has received, and plans to launch the Third Annual Artificial Intelligence Writing Competition during the 2019-2020 academic year.

About CLCT’s AI Activities:

The Center for Legal and Court Technology (CLCT) is a joint initiative of William & Mary Law School, the oldest law school in the United States, and the National Center for State Courts. In 2017, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation (funded by Cisco) awarded a grant to CLCT to educate members of the legal profession on the legal issues likely to arise from the use of technologies such as machine/deep learning, large scale data analytics, and the Internet of Things. Since receiving this grant (renewed for the 2018-2019 academic year), CLCT has launched and developed collaborative, international research efforts, including academic scholarship, innovative law school and continuing education courses, international conferences and workshops, student writing competitions, and a podcast on emerging technologies and the law. Read more about CLCT’s AI and emerging technology research here.

This content has been updated on September 6, 2020 at 6:55 pm.