ABA Formal Opinion 512 provides welcome guidance on ethical obligations for lawyers, demanding competence in understanding AI’s benefits and risks (Model Rule 1.1), diligence in protecting client confidentiality (Model Rule 1.6), clarity in client communications (Model Rule 1.4), candor toward tribunals (Model Rule 3.3), effective supervision of AI use (Model Rules 5.1, 5.3), and reasonableness in fees (Model Rule 1.5).
While not an ethics compliance manual, Richard Susskind’s new book How to Think About AI: A Guide for the Perplexed offers precisely the conceptual tools — the “mental models” — needed to navigate these practical obligations. For example:
- Susskind’s discussions on AI capabilities, limitations, and the difficulty in explaining how some systems work (Chapters 1, 2 and 5) directly inform the duty of competence under Rule 1.1, which requires lawyers to understand the benefits and risks of associated technology.
- His structured analysis of AI risks (Chapters 8 and 9) provides a framework for assessing potential threats to confidentiality under Rule 1.6, particularly concerning data security and inadvertent disclosure when using third-party AI tools.
- Exploring the “process vs. outcome” distinction (Chapter 3) can illuminate challenges in communicating AI use to clients (Rule 1.4) or ensuring candor to tribunals (Rule 3.3) about the origins and reliability of AI-generated materials.
The value proposition of Susskind’s book lies significantly in equipping lawyers with the cognitive framework necessary to operationalize the ethical requirements newly formalized in Opinion 512.