17 Dec WHEN MACHINE LEARNING EXPERT WITNESS LEADERS AND TESTIFYING AI CONSULTANTS SPEAK, JUDGES LISTEN
The time for machine learning expert witness consulting providers to make hay has arrived. With artificial intelligence and machine learning systems growing more pervasive, complex legal cases increasingly hinge on the specialized insights and skillsets of consultants here. Attorneys rely on machine learning expert witness advisors to disentangle complicated models, algorithms, data inputs, and automated decisions – and explain their findings and implications to judges and juries. The role has become indispensable for unraveling incidents involving artificial intelligence.
A major thrust for any machine learning expert witness is scrutinizing the training data and processes of involved AI and statistical models. Examining how these systems were developed, auditing built-in data biases, and testing for accuracy provides necessary foundations for many legal arguments. For example, in lawsuits alleging discriminatory decisions made by automated banking loan approval systems, the machine learning expert witness evaluates model fairness through testing on balanced data sets. External analyses help construct pivotal claims of inherent bias.
Attorneys also depend on machine learning expert witnesses to simplify convoluted technical concepts like neural networks, reinforcement learning, data clustering, gradient descent optimization, and more. Making these advanced ideas accessible and relatable to legal teams without technical backgrounds means they can develop sharper arguments invoking the systems’ strengths and flaws. The bilingual interpretations of a machine learning expert witness bridge crucial comprehension and strategy gaps.
Forensic investigations into incidents involving artificial intelligence comprise another main task area for the aspiring consultant. By reverse engineering the machine learning model data and decision stages surrounding a harmful AI-related event, advisors piece together critical explanatory timelines. The chronological reconstructions of how these “black box” technologies potentially malfunctioned or caused damages build evidentiary foundations in emerging liability domains.
As legal fields attempt addressing the disruptions of increasing automation and algorithms permeating finance, employment, transportation, medicine, and beyond – there will be escalating needs for machine learning expert witnesses. Their overarching capacity is translating the opaque technicalities that underly transformative intelligent technologies into relatable terms and empirical assessments. It helps attorneys apply intelligent systems’ significant impacts to shaping myriad legal cases of our era. The machine learning expert witness will have abundant essential contributions for courts and counsels navigating this shifting landscape for the foreseeable future.