This isn't a blog. So, the following posts aren't in reverse chronological order. They're not even a complete list of posts on this site. To the extent they have an order, it's based on what I wanted to showcase the last time I updated the list. I suspect, however, most of the time this will approximate reverse chronological order. That being said, if you're looking for something in particular, I suggest ctrl+f, followed by the search tool in the header should that fail.
50 Days of LIT Prompts Learn prompt engineering through doing with new prompt patterns every weekday for 10 weeks
As an experiential educator, I firmly believe experience is an excellent teacher. So, let's build some stuff. In the process we might just gain some perspective on this whole generative AI craze.
I teach law students about technology, and recently I created the LIT Prompts browser extension to help them explore the use of Large Language Models (LLMs) and prompt engineering. You can download the extension for Firefox or for Chrome.
Every weekday for the next 10 weeks, I'll update this page with new prompt patterns and invite folks to play with them inside LIT Prompts. We'll be plugging into the technology that runs tools like ChatGPT, giving you a level of control that most people don't see. You won't have to do any "coding," but we will think like coders. I'm still suspicious of the term prompt engineering, esp. when used as a job title. The idea that an entire job could be built around "talking" to an AI seems a bit too loosey goosey. So, we'll try to introduce some rigor. We'll aim to think about workflows and systems where writing prompts is just part of a larger endeavor. You'll be supported by the fact that LIT Prompts lets you produce reusable interconnecting prompt templates. This will let us build upon what we learn and improve our practice over time. We'll explore the promise and perils of this new technology while you build custom interactions/workflows. Plus, I'm pretty sure we'll have fun along the way.
Life (Short Story)
Winner of the Lawyerist 2016 Short Fiction Contest. Written well before the Supreme Court's overruling of Roe v Wade, we visit the United States as it celebrates its tricentennial. Human life extension has been perfected. Roe is but a distant memory, and a case before the Supreme Court is poised to ask, what is the meaning of life.
"She remembered the elation among her cohorts at conquering aging. She also remembered how short-lived the high was and how quickly a nation came to understand the concept of inelastic demand. There was no limit to what people would pay. After all, the benefits were transgenerational, since [they were] passed from mother to child. It laid bare the gulf between the haves and the have-nots. For the first time in human history, the rich really were a different breed."
Read the story (3,700 words)
Driverless Cars Poised to Undermine War on Drugs (Flash Fiction)
It's 2041 and driverless cars have eliminated traffic tickets. How will policing survive? In this tale of unintended consequences, I use our relationship with the car to interrogate modern policing along with the interplay of digital surveillance and overcriminalization.
"Danielle remembered a time when her parents drove, but they shared the roads with autonomous taxis and long-haul trucks. By the time she was old enough to get her driver’s license, owning a manual car didn’t make financial sense. She didn’t need one to get around, and insurance for human drivers was astronomical. There was no question. The world had become a better place. Pre-automation, tens of thousands died every year in what people euphemistically called accidents. Distracted, tired or otherwise impaired people; that’s what caused those accidents. Today, annual traffic fatalities numbered in the hundreds."
Read the story (1,100 words)