The AI Index Report developed at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence at Stanford University in California is an interesting resource to help track developments in the field.

It tracks worldwide trends in private AI investments, the number of incidents related to the ethical misuse of AI, as well as the state of AI regulation and legislation across the world.

Chapter 6 on Policy and Governance shows that there has been an explosive increase in the level of attention that legislators are paying to issues relating to AI:

"An AI Index analysis of the legislative records of 127 countries shows that the number of bills containing 'artificial intelligence' that were passed into law grew from just 1 in 2016 to 37 in 2022. An analysis of  the parliamentary records on AI in 81 countries likewise shows that mentions of AI in global legislative proceedings have increased nearly 6.5 times since 2016."

There has been a rapid growth in commentary on artificial intelligence and its impact on sectors such as law.

It can be hard to follow the trends but legal tech blogs and websites and podcasts are a good source of information.

Sources to check out include:

• the Legal Tech column in the Canadian Bar Association's National Magazine
• the 3 Geeks and a Law Blog podcast co-hosted by Greg Lambert, former president of the American Association of Law Libraries who has spoken in the past at CALL
•  various university research centres such as the University of Ottawa's Centre for Law, Technology and Society, among others
• the AALL Spectrum published an article on Keeping Up With AI & Other New Tech Advancements in its May/June 2023 issue (pp. 48-50)

The Law Commission of Ontario also currently has an ongoing multiyear project looking into the issues related to AI. As part of its work, the Commission has published many reports and papers.