AI & Law: Turtles All The Way Down

Famous SCOTUS case made turtles all the way down part of legal lore

by Dr. Lance B. Eliot

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Key briefing points about this article:

• A legendary and somewhat unusual expression is that it is “turtles all the way down”
• This is a reference to the notion of an infinite regress and is based likely on a fable
• Supreme Court Justice Scalia famously used the expression in a SCOTUS opinion
• The expression is arising in the AI and LegalTech realm, dubiously so
• You can use the expression appropriately or use it for intentionally muddled purposes

Introduction

Attorneys love to make use of clever sayings or catchy expressions. The law is ostensibly about words and their meanings, thus there is an intrinsic fascination by lawyers about how we say things and what we intend to convey.

I’d like to cover one expression that might be unfamiliar to you, or you might vaguely know but have rarely ever used or seen used. I’m referring to the vaunted notion that it might be turtles all the way down.