AI & Law: The Saga Of AI Maximizing Paperclips

Leveraging the infamous paperclip maximizer thought experiment

by Dr. Lance B. Eliot

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Key briefing points about this article:

• Paperclips have more importance than might be apparent to the ordinary eye
• Turns out that a parable involving paperclips has been an AI “hot topic” for many years
• Suppose an AI system went overboard and made paperclips obediently but to our detriment
• This same unintentional adverse consequence could befall the use of AI in the law
• Knowing about the paperclip predicament can help guide AI adoption in the legal field

Introduction

Excuse me, do you perchance have a paperclip handy?

Any discussion about paperclips would generally seem to be unheralded, other than the routine request for a paperclip or the polite handing over of a paperclip or two to a colleague. We regularly use those curvy shapes of metal in our daily efforts and yet they don’t get any special attention or consideration.