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Predictive Analytics
Why Dressing for Success Leads to (Negotiating) Success
April 21, 2016
New research shows that when workers wear nicer clothes, they achieve more A number of recent studies suggest that dressing up for work in a suit or blazer could do wonders for an employee’s productivity, whether going into a negotiation, making a sales call or even participating in a videoconference with business associates. Using a number of measures, including simulated business meetings at which subjects wore formal and more casual clothing, the studies offer indications that wearing...
April 21, 2016
New research shows that when workers wear nicer clothes, they achieve more A number of recent studies suggest that dressing up for work in a suit or blazer could do wonders for an employee’s productivity, whether going into a negotiation, making a sales call or even participating in a videoconference with business associates. Using a number of measures, including simulated business meetings at which subjects wore formal and more casual clothing, the studies offer indications that wearing...
Deep Learning for Robots: Learning from Large-Scale Interaction
April 17, 2016
While we’ve recently seen great strides in robotic capability, the gap between human and robot motor skills remains vast. Machines still have a very long way to go to match human proficiency even at basic sensorimotor skills like grasping. However, by linking learning with continuous feedback and control, we might begin to bridge that gap, and in so doing make it possible for robots to intelligently and reliably handle the complexities of the real world. Consider for example this robot from...
April 17, 2016
While we’ve recently seen great strides in robotic capability, the gap between human and robot motor skills remains vast. Machines still have a very long way to go to match human proficiency even at basic sensorimotor skills like grasping. However, by linking learning with continuous feedback and control, we might begin to bridge that gap, and in so doing make it possible for robots to intelligently and reliably handle the complexities of the real world. Consider for example this robot from...
Number of Legal Startups Nearly Triples in Two Years
April 16, 2016
Two years ago, in a post here titled, A Time of Unprecedented Innovation in Legal Technology, I noted that Angel List, a site that lists startups of all kinds, included 412 companies identified as legal startups. Today, the number of legal startups included at Angel List is 1,094. That is nearly threefold growth in the number of legal startups in just two years. Perhaps I spoke too soon two years ago. The legal industry continues to see innovation at a pace that far outdistances anything we’ve...
April 16, 2016
Two years ago, in a post here titled, A Time of Unprecedented Innovation in Legal Technology, I noted that Angel List, a site that lists startups of all kinds, included 412 companies identified as legal startups. Today, the number of legal startups included at Angel List is 1,094. That is nearly threefold growth in the number of legal startups in just two years. Perhaps I spoke too soon two years ago. The legal industry continues to see innovation at a pace that far outdistances anything we’ve...
AI We There Yet?
April 16, 2016
A behavior-science perspective on why it's still a long way to human-like AI In Greg Egan(link is external)'s short story Learning to Be Me(link is external), published in 1990 and set in what now feels like a rather near future, every human can have their brain shadowed by a "jewel"—a small computer that fits inside the skull and over time learns the connections among their sensations, thoughts, and actions. Learning is deemed to be complete when the jewel's patterns of implied behavior become...
April 16, 2016
A behavior-science perspective on why it's still a long way to human-like AI In Greg Egan(link is external)'s short story Learning to Be Me(link is external), published in 1990 and set in what now feels like a rather near future, every human can have their brain shadowed by a "jewel"—a small computer that fits inside the skull and over time learns the connections among their sensations, thoughts, and actions. Learning is deemed to be complete when the jewel's patterns of implied behavior become...
Science Explains Why Even The Best Athletes Mess Up
April 14, 2016
How does Steph Curry, the NBA’s most dominant point guard, still miss a three-pointer? A recent study in the journal NEURON may shed some light on how individuals make errors even after thousands of reps. A study by Duke University neurobiologist Stephen Lisberger analyzed electrical activity in monkeys’ brain cells while the subjects watched a dot move across a computer screen. The study found that when a monkey’s neuron misfired while tracking, neighboring neurons also misfired. Sometimes...
April 14, 2016
How does Steph Curry, the NBA’s most dominant point guard, still miss a three-pointer? A recent study in the journal NEURON may shed some light on how individuals make errors even after thousands of reps. A study by Duke University neurobiologist Stephen Lisberger analyzed electrical activity in monkeys’ brain cells while the subjects watched a dot move across a computer screen. The study found that when a monkey’s neuron misfired while tracking, neighboring neurons also misfired. Sometimes...
Patent Litigation Bounced Back, Migrated to Texas in 2015
April 14, 2016
The number of patent cases filed in federal court jumped up in 2015, and the Eastern District of Texas emerged as the single...
April 14, 2016
The number of patent cases filed in federal court jumped up in 2015, and the Eastern District of Texas emerged as the single...
Information Avoidance
April 13, 2016
We commonly think of information as a means to an end. However, a growing theoretical and experimental literature suggests that information may directly enter the agent’s utility function. This can create an incentive to avoid information, even when it is useful, free, and independent of strategic considerations. We review research documenting the occurrence of information avoidance as well as theoretical and empirical research on reasons for why people avoid information, drawing from economics,...
April 13, 2016
We commonly think of information as a means to an end. However, a growing theoretical and experimental literature suggests that information may directly enter the agent’s utility function. This can create an incentive to avoid information, even when it is useful, free, and independent of strategic considerations. We review research documenting the occurrence of information avoidance as well as theoretical and empirical research on reasons for why people avoid information, drawing from economics,...
42 Essential iPad Apps for Trial Lawyers
April 12, 2016
Settlement Apps Picture It Settled (free). Most cases never make it to trial, of course. If you are trying to reach a settlement but unable to come to terms, this app might help. The app helps litigants analyze their positions and develop a successful negotiation strategy. Using data harvested from thousands of cases, it predicts when you will be able to settle and for what amount.
April 12, 2016
Settlement Apps Picture It Settled (free). Most cases never make it to trial, of course. If you are trying to reach a settlement but unable to come to terms, this app might help. The app helps litigants analyze their positions and develop a successful negotiation strategy. Using data harvested from thousands of cases, it predicts when you will be able to settle and for what amount.
42 Essential iPad Apps for Trial Lawyers
April 12, 2016
For many trial lawyers, the iPad has become an essential accoutrement. It is used in discovery, depositions, research, jury...
April 12, 2016
For many trial lawyers, the iPad has become an essential accoutrement. It is used in discovery, depositions, research, jury...
Can AI Replace Lawyers? Vanderbilt Law Event to Address Legal Machines
April 11, 2016
The April 13 and 14 event will feature experts in AI and law as well as ROSS, the world’s ‘first artificially intelligent attorney.’ When people discuss artificial intelligence (AI) replacing jobs, rarely are they thinking about lawyers. Nevertheless in recent years, AI has factored into the legal profession, leaving those in-the-know to wonder: Will AI be a top-resource or replacement. Attempting to answer this question is “Watson, Esq. Will Your Next Lawyer Be a Machine?,” an April...
April 11, 2016
The April 13 and 14 event will feature experts in AI and law as well as ROSS, the world’s ‘first artificially intelligent attorney.’ When people discuss artificial intelligence (AI) replacing jobs, rarely are they thinking about lawyers. Nevertheless in recent years, AI has factored into the legal profession, leaving those in-the-know to wonder: Will AI be a top-resource or replacement. Attempting to answer this question is “Watson, Esq. Will Your Next Lawyer Be a Machine?,” an April...
