Donner Prize shortlisters share the biggest surprises about writing their books – Canadian Reviews
May 7, 2024
The annual Donner Prize honours Canadian books on policy issues facing our society and governments today, spurring debate on these matters among policy makers and the public. This year’s $60,000 prize will be announced at a gala dinner in Toronto on May 8. The Globe and Mail asked the shortlisted authors to reveal the biggest surprises that came about in the writing and researching of their books.
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The Legal Singularity: How Artificial Intelligence Can Make Law Radically Better, by Abdi Aidid and Benjamin Alarie (University of Toronto Press)
As law professors, we have spent our careers studying the law. We have seen firsthand how legal complexity can create significant barriers to fairness, efficiency and access to justice. In years past, we may have joined calls for simplifying the law itself as the solution to these problems.
However, the greatest revelation from writing The Legal Singularity was that increasing the complexity of the law “under the hood,” when paired with AI-powered tools to navigate that complexity, can yield a dramatically simpler and more accessible legal system. Indeed, sophisticated AI can cut through legal complexity like Alexander slicing the Gordian knot, translating byzantine legislation and case law into clear and practical guidance.
