The Sedona Conference Working Group 13 on Artificial Intelligence and the Law: Inaugural Meeting 2025

Date: 
Thursday, January 16, 2025 - 8:30am to Friday, January 17, 2025 - 3:00pm

Location:
The Camby Hotel
2401 East Camelback Road
Phoenix, AZ 85016

Welcome Reception:
Wednesday, January 15, 2025, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.

Artificial Intelligence touches almost every aspect of the law. Several established Sedona Conference Working Groups are already tackling issues such as using AI in eDiscovery, AI and inventorship in patent law, and AI as a data privacy and cybersecurity risk. After two successful conferences on AI and the Law, The Sedona Conference will launch a new Working Group 13 with the dual mission of coordinating the AI-related activities of existing Working Groups and serving as an incubator to develop analyses and recommend principles and best practices addressing AI in other legal contexts.

We will meet in Phoenix, Arizona, in January, starting with a welcome reception on Wednesday evening, January 15, and ending with the adjournment at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, January 17. A detailed agenda with dialogue leaders will be issued in the next few days, but the planning committee has already narrowed the myriad AI and the Law topics down to these for dialogue during the meeting:

  • What Do We Mean By "AI" & Technology Primer
  • Regulation of AI - New and Existing Laws and Regulations Having a Major Impact on AI Use
  • Real-Life AI Use Cases: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
  • Measurement, Defensibility, and Compliance: Vetting, Validation, and Monitoring of AI Tools and Uses
  • AI Governance
  • Training of AI on Potentially Copyrighted Information
  • Patenting and Copyrighting AI-Generated Content
  • AI and the Courts (Including Evidentiary Issues) - Judges Panel
  • What the Future of AI Holds: Law and Technology
  • Where Does Working Group 13 Go from Here?
  • Working Group breakout sessions to focus WG13's future efforts

Available Hotels in the Area:
The room block at The Camby Hotel is now sold out. Below are several hotels in the area that are within a 15-minute walk to The Camby. Please note that The Sedona Conference has no contractual relationship with these hotels. We can neither provide a rate nor ensure the hotel's quality.

These are just a few in the area, and there may be others that better fit your needs.

To attend the meeting or join other Working Group 13 activities, you must either be a member of The Sedona Conference Working Group Series in good standing or an employee of a Working Group Series Sponsor. Judges, full-time government employees, and academics in accredited non-profit educational institutions may obtain a complimentary WGS membership and enjoy special consideration in meeting registration fees.

WG13 Inaugural Meeting Agenda

Time  Session  Panelists
  Wednesday, January 15, 2025 (*=moderator)
5:30 — 7:30 p.m. Welcome Reception  
  Thursday, January 16, 2025  
7:30 — 8:30 a.m. Sign-In & Buffet Breakfast (provided)  
8:30 — 9:00 a.m. Welcome and Announcements  
  What does a TSC Working Group do and how? What else is TSC currently doing in the AI space? Grossman, Ray, Withers*
9:00 — 10:00 a.m. [Session 01] What Do We Mean by "AI"  
  This session has two goals: providing a baseline understanding of the benefits, risks, and basic functioning of different AI technologies, and examining the multitude of legal definitions of AI that have emerged over the past few years. By laying out factual nuance, dispelling common misunderstandings, and sketching out the scope and coverage of various significant AI laws, these two topics will help frame our dialogue over the next two days. McVoy, Ray*, Strange, Vidmar
10:00 — 10:15 a.m. Morning Break  
10:15 — 11:15 a.m. [Session 02] Regulation of AI  
  AI development and use present risks and opportunities. Existing and proposed laws, regulations and standards seek to mitigate AI-related risks, including bias, discrimination, disclosure of private information, unfairness and deception. Compliance with those authorities can be a significant challenge. That challenge can be enhanced when accounting for rights, such as IP rights, at issue or arising during and through AI development and use. We will lead a dialogue that raises awareness of certain AI authorities, enacted or proposed, that address such risks and relate to such rights, which can be developer, user and third-party rights. Arnold, Eltis, McMurrough, Pelletier*, Ray, Sterling
11:15  — 12:15 p.m. [Session 03] AI in Practice: Real-World Applications Across Legal and Other Industries  
  AI's expanding role across business and legal sectors reveals both its capabilities and limitations in practice. This session examines AI's current impact through the lenses of consumer-facing applications, enterprise implementation economics, and legal practice applications. Through the discussion of real-world AI applications—both successful and unsuccessful—we will explore how AI has effectively delivered value, and where it has fallen short. We will discuss key factors to consider when selecting and implementing AI technology applications, as well as best practices for ensuring new technologies are deployed in compliance with global regulatory frameworks. This practical assessment will equip counsel to better advise clients on AI adoption, deployment, and development, as well as optimize its defensible and reasonable use in their own practice. Bien, Dahlin, Emory*, Ma
12:15 — 1:15 p.m. Lunch (provided)  
1:15 — 2:15 p.m. [Session 04] Measurement, Defensibility, and Compliance: Vetting, Validation, and Monitoring of AI Tools and Uses  
  As the excitement that attends the arrival of a new technology gives way to the business of applying the technology in real-world circumstances, we are brought back to basic questions: Does it work? How do we measure whether it works? On what basis do we rely on the decisions or outcomes it generates? Both science and the law have something to contribute to answering such questions—questions of effectiveness and trust—but, just as the objectives of science and law differ, so too do their approaches and standards for establishing trust differ. In this session, we consider the question of how we establish trust in the effectiveness of AI-enabled technologies, from the perspective of both science and the law. Our goal is to lay the foundation for standards and regulations that are better informed and strengthened by the contributions of science. Cormack, Grossman, Hedin*
2:15 — 3:15 p.m. [Session 05] AI Governance  
  The introduction of AI into an enterprise, and GenAI in particular, raises many questions about information collection, retention, stewardship, access, and disposal that are the bedrock of Information Governance policies and procedures. How does Information Governance need to be expanded to incorporate AI? Kearney, Moncure*, Olsen, Zeller
3:15 — 3:30 p.m. Afternoon Break  
3:30 — 4:30 p.m. [Session 06] IP Part 1: Training of AI on Potentially Copyrighted Information  
  This panel will explore current issues in litigation regarding Generative AI with a particular focus on copyright. The panel will discuss legal theories and arguments raised by right-holders in attempting to hold AI model makers liable for copyright infringement as well as the model makers’ key defenses. Benon, Gratz, Selwyn, Vo*
4:30 — 5:30 p.m. [Session 07] IP Part 2: Patenting and Copyrighting of AI-Generated Content  
  The use of generative AI in developing new technologies and creative works raises questions that strike at the very core of what patents and copyrights are intended to protect and foster. So far the Copyright Office and the Patent Office have taken different approaches on AI-generated works, but is either approach appropriate? Do we need entirely new concepts of "invention" and "creation" that account for the future pervasiveness of AI in human creations? What is the role of patents and copyrights as "push to invent" becomes more of a reality? Abbott, Kelly*, Kenton, Powers, Vidal
5:30 — 7:30 p.m. Reception (guests invited)  
  Friday, January 17, 2025  
7:30 — 8:30 a.m. Breakfast & sign-in  
8:30 — 9:45 a.m. [Session 08] AI and the Courts (Including Evidentiary Issues) - Judges Panel
 

 

  • Can AI help relieve overburdened courts?
  • Can AI assist self-represented litigants?
  • Should judges be using GenAI and if so, for what tasks?
  • How can judges and juries spot AI-generated evidence?
 Goddard, Grossman*, Presser, Rodriguez, Thumma
9:45 — 10:45 a.m. [Session 09] What the Future of AI Holds: Law and Technology  
 
  • What is next on the horizon for AI?
  • Where can advances in AI improve the legal system?
  • What are the potential legal dangers that these advances might present?
 Marchant, Jorgensen*, Shepard, Vidmar
10:45 — 11:00 a.m. Morning Break  
11:00 — 12:00 p.m. [Session 10] Where Does Working Group 13 Go From Here  
  This panel will focus on critical legal issues raised by artificial intelligence that require further analysis and guidance for courts and lawmakers, particularly where broad consensus on resolution principles may emerge. The discussion will also explore how The Sedona Conference can maximize its impact with limited volunteer resources. Key questions include: Can we identify critical legal issues raised by AI that require further analysis and guidance for courts and lawmakers? Are there areas where consensus on principles or guidelines can be reached? With limited volunteer resources and a wide landscape to cover, how can The Sedona Conference maximize its impact and prioritize its efforts? Grossman, Ko*, Moncure, Ray, Withers
12:00 — 12:30 p.m. Lunch (grab-and-go - take to Breakout Room)  
12:30 — 1:30 p.m. Breakout Session 1 Addressing WG13’s Next Steps  
 
  • Topic(s) to be determined.
  
1:30 — 1:45 p.m. Afternoon Break  
1:45 — 2:45 p.m. Breakout Session 2 Addressing WG13’s Next Steps  
 
  • Topic(s) to be determined.
  
2:45 — 3:00 p.m. Closing Remarks and Adjournment