Closed out the inaugural year of the Berkeley AI & Society social with a look at a new statewide police use-of-force + misconduct database built by Berkeley EECS, journalism, law, data science, and others, including at Stanford. ML+ other techniques+sweat pulled of the enormous data cleaning (1/3)

Wonderful to visit Jessica Jackson in NY. As a Santa Clara student, she inspired Paper Prisons when she drew attention to prisons overstay as a data problem. She’s since led REFORM; which has in 6 yrs passed 21 laws in 12 states to reform our broken probation/parole system: youtu.be/Gk8aREuaGAg?...

So impressed with the spooky smart and creative costumes of students in my AI Law and Governance class! Adding our family's AI-themed costume from a few years ago too. Happy Halloween! 🎃

New paper: Bridging Research Gaps b/w Academic Research & Legal Investigations of Algorithmic Discrimination, for AI, Ethics & Society 2025. @irenetrampoline.bsky.social, Anna Zink & I review civil enforcement actions & find 5 ways algorithmic research can better support enforcers; comments welcome!

My new article, "Clean Slate, Dirty Data," audits automatic non-conviction record clearance laws in 5 states, finds good but imperfect compliance, suggesting 1) automation can succeed where petitions fail, 2) accountability in implementation is needed.(NC L. Rev 2025) papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Dear journalists: The President has not fired Lisa Cook. The President is *trying* to illegally fire her. Your words shape people’s reality. Please be accurate in your reporting.

We Are All Lisa Cook open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...

Despite backlash to DEI, our paper, w/ Jillian Grennan and Jason Sandvik, just presented @nber.org, suggests targeted mentorship boosts firm-wide innovation. Tracking 7 cohorts, 633 mentees & 20K+ employees, we find real ROI for well-designed mentoring. 📄 papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Registration for our 4/16 AI & Education event featuring @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social Education Prof Zach Pardos and CS Prof Gireeja Ranade now open: berkeley.zoom.us/meeting/regi... Series website: ai-and-society.github.io Curated by @rajiinio.bsky.social and @irenetrampoline.bsky.social

Just posted: working paper on the impact of drivers license suspension reform laws on employment w/ @bobapel.bsky.social. We find increases in statewide employment when people can drive & that the quality of reform matters. It’s an early draft, welcome your comments! paperprisons.org/news-blog.ht...

We've launched a biweekly AI & Society salon at Berkeley w/ @rajiinio.bsky.social & @irenetrampoline.bsky.social! This week, sociologist marionf.bsky.social joined EECS’ beenwrekt.bsky.social to discuss The Ordinal Society. Up next, on April 16th: AI & Education. Join us at ai-and-society.github.io

Excited to see @kpbssandiego.bsky.social spotlight the Paper Prisons Racial Justice Act tool in their mini-series on racial disparities in the justice system. We’ve been humbled by the reception from people seeking to connect lived experience to data and welcome collaboration.

What’s happening in Federal AI law, policy & governance? We discussed @ucberkeleylaw.bsky.social's recent conference, covering AI EOs across Trump I & II and Biden, the M-Memo, & agency shifts. Some highlights from my primer and the panel of computer & social scientists and lawyers I moderated:

18F was doing exactly the type of work that DOGE claims to want – yet we were eliminated shortly after midnight. Read our letter to the American people: 18f.org

Today at noon PST - Tech Devt’s & Tools in the Criminal Legal System webinar (qualifies for CA tech CLE) - I’ll be talking about Paper Prisons projects in AI, automation, & data re the California Racial Justice Act & Clean Slate w/ Andrea Roth, Chesa Boudin, Rebecca Wexler, and Jake Rhodes.

ISSUES is thrilled to join the Bluesky community! ⁠ A brief introduction: We’re a digital and print opinion journal published by @nationalacademies.org and Arizona State University. We provide a forum for discussion of public policy related to science, technology, and society. ⁠1/ issues.org

The 25th Annual Berkeley-Stanford Advanced Patent Law Institute is only 10 days away! Seats are still available at the nation's premier patent law event. Register now! @pamelasamuelson.bsky.social @jenniferurban.bsky.social www.law.berkeley.edu/research/bcl...

📣 New Racial Justice Act tool/paper alert! Our Paper Prisons tool offers CalDOJ data on racial disparities by county, charge, prosecution stage, and sentence in all 58 CA counties. Tool: rja.paperprisons.org

Excited to share UC Berkeley's new cluster hire in AI, Inequality, and Society including five T/TT positions at Berkeley Law, @berkeleyischool.bsky.social, UC Berkeley CDSS, and the departments of EECS and Sociology. Please consider applying / spread the word! aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF04498

This @financialtimes.com article provides an overview of several studies by Diversity Patents Initiative researchers including @patentscholar.bsky.social's & my piece in Science & a paper I co-authored with Chris Cotropia on the role of GenAI in improving patent quality: www.ft.com/content/feb1...

Last week, I spoke on @npr.org's Morning Edition on the importance of policy delivery, not just fanfare, in reference to @govwesmoore.bsky.social's sweeping and ambitious pot conviction pardons; the TL;DR: good start, keep going. www.npr.org/2024/06/19/n...

Great to talk inclusive innovation with US Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce Derrick Brent last week at USPTO headquarters. Check out the agency's National Strategy for Inclusive Innovation, for getting people off the bench and into the innovation game. uspto.gov/about-us/new...

Recording from inspiring California GenAI summit focusing on how to best harness GenAI for empowerment, not inequality, now available. cdss.berkeley.edu/JointCASummi... Check out the Governor's GenAI EO, toolkit, procurement guidance, and other regs. cdt.ca.gov/technology-i... @djpatil.bsky.social

New Diversity Pilots Initiative blog posts: Gugliuzza, Goodman & Rebouché on Inequality and Intersectionality at the Federal Circuit writtendescription.blogspot.com/2023/12/gues... Heath, Seegert & Yang on Open-Source Innovation and Team Diversity writtendescription.blogspot.com/2023/12/gues...

New(ish) study with Duke Prof. Arti Rai considers Dx #patenting following SCOTUS’ Mayo ruling. We find increased prosecution toughness, sustained patenting but some evidence of retrenchment in filings/filing quality among small, US-based firms. Paper: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... 📈 #PatentLaw

New in Science Magazine: @patentscholar.bsky.social and I explore a critical issue in patent law: why are so many contributors, particularly women and junior innovators, left unrecognized on #patents? science.org/doi/10.1126/.... #ScienceResearch

AppleWatches are at risk of being banned by the ITC for patent infringement. I explain why I think ultimately they WILL be available for Xmas in this Hustler Mag article. #patentlaw #ITC #Apple (Also always glad to show off my sustainable DEPLOYLondon blouse) thehustle.co/will-this-be...

Berkeley Center for Law & Technology is hosting a half-day program on generative AI and creativity on Friday afternoon. In person only unfortunately. Here's a link to the program: www.law.berkeley.edu/research/bcl...