Finding Lingua Franca: The Power of AI and Linguistics for Legal Technology

November 16, 2021

In the very first episode of season eight, co-hosts Bill Mariano and Rob Hellewell introduce themselves and welcome listeners back for another riveting season of Law & Candor, the podcast wholly devoted to pursuing the legal technology revolution. They start off with some exciting news about Lighthouse and the recent acquisition of H5.

They then dive into Sightings of Radical Brilliance, the part of the show highlighting the latest news of noteworthy innovation and acts of sheer genius. In this episode, they discuss an article in the AP that investigates how AI-powered tech landed a man in jail with scant evidence. Bill and Rob discuss the case and the AI technology involved, and what questions this raises regarding scientifically validating AI and its use as evidence in criminal cases.

Bill and Rob are then joined by Amanda Jones of Lighthouse to discuss common challenges and pitfalls that can arise with modern language in ediscovery, and the interplay between AI and linguistics. Some key questions they explore, include:

  • What is linguistic modeling?
  • What are the critical challenges with modern language and ediscovery today?
  • How is linguistics informing and impacting AI in ediscovery?
  • What are best practices for implementing AI solutions and tools?

Our co-hosts wrap up the episode with a few key takeaways. If you enjoyed the show, learn more about our speakers and subscribe on the podcast homepage, rate us on Apple and Stitcher, and join in the conversation on Twitter.

Amanda Jones

Amanda is a Director in Lighthouse's Research, Modeling, and Analysis group. She supervises the development of new processes and offerings for eDiscovery, designing and implementing innovative linguistic and statistical approaches to document classification. Amanda has over 15 years of experience applying advanced strategies and tactics to complex litigation-related information retrieval projects. She has collaborated extensively with corporate legal departments and outside counsel to formulate and validate defensible document review protocols. Before joining the company, she oversaw Technology Assisted Review and Search Consulting at Xerox Litigation Services. Her work has been published in Forbes, National Law Review, Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, and the proceedings of the fourth, fifth, and sixth Discovery of Electronically Stored Information workshops held in conjunction with the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence & Law. Amanda holds a B.A. in linguistics from the University of Texas at Austin and an M.A. in linguistics from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Law and Candor

The podcast wholly devoted to pursuing the legal technology revolution. Co-hosts Bill Mariano and Paige Hunt explore the impacts and possibilities that new technology, including AI, is creating for eDiscovery, modern data, compliance, privacy, and information governance.