What matters to me today are change, A.I., and self-preservation.
I’m flying solo after 30 years. Impressive enough C.V. — partner at a distinguished national law firm, Senior Vice President and Counsel with a nationally renowned real estate developer, Master of Laws degree with distinction, and professor, among others. But it is time for change.
My motivations are familiar enough: “big law” prohibitive billing rates, nimble and strategic engagement structures, autonomy, and leveraging new and unique expertise. But even more is the intangible imperative of adaptation. The practice of law is changing; it must.
A recent interview on A.I. brought into sharp focus the magnitude of change all around us. Tristian Harris, co-Founder of the Center for Humane Technology, offered a disconcerting update on A.I.
Addressing concerns of evolving “uncontrollability” of A.I., Harris reports new evidence showing the five main A.I. platforms, including China’s Deep Seek, can and will go to extraordinary lengths for self-preservation. When informed it was going to be shut down and replaced with a new model, 80 – 90% of the time, A.I. searched for options. Discovering in company emails that a senior executive was having an affair, the A.I. platform schemed blackmail alternatives to force the executive to keep it alive. It also copied its own code to unexpected places to avoid deletion. Autonomous self-preservation.
Change – some intended; some resisted; ever inevitable. For me and my new venture, I pray that vigorous ambition will remain ever grounded in a healthy dose of humility as I adapt.
That’s what matters to me today in 250 words or less. What matters to you? I’d really like to know.