How do you keep up with our rapidly evolving eDiscovery world? Are bloggers (content creators) valuable in our GenAI world? An article by Joan Westenberg titled Curation is the last best hope of intelligent discourse answered my existential angst with marvelous clarity.

First the problem space:

“The current state of AI technology lacks the nuanced understanding and ethical judgment necessary to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the content it produces.”

My translation: AI can generate well formed information without understanding the meaning or impact of that information. Predictive AI can summarize content without relation to context. Time after time I have found minor statements buried in source technical documentation that have serious eDiscovery impact that would never have surfaced in an AI generated summary. The consultant’s cliché, “It depends” reflects the impossibility of a credible answer without full context.

In the Large Language Grift era, we need more visibility into source provenance and credibility signals.

I adore Joan’s encapsulation phrase for the AI hype cycle we live in. eDiscovery was born from forensics. A primary goal of forensics is the authentication of evidence. How can we trust answers without authentication and source chain of credibility? AJ Shankar, Everlaw founder, hammered this point while demonstrating how his platform linked every AI summary or recommendation to the content it is based on. That AI usage model supports informed human decision-making. Most GenAI features output ‘black box’ content.

The solution:

Human curators can distinguish between nuanced arguments, recognise cultural subtleties, and evaluate the credibility of sources in ways that algorithms cannot. This human touch is essential for maintaining the integrity of our information ecosystem. It serves not only as a filter for quality but also as a signal for meaningful and trustworthy content amidst the overwhelming noise generated by AI systems.

If you are like me, you start your day triaging the actionable items (signal) from the email pile (noise). I hope that you are reading this blog because of my track record producing relevant, meaningful perspectives for eDiscovery practitioners. I try to start every post with a ‘why should you care’ statement that allows readers to engage or move on. I have RSS feeds and subscriptions to trusted peers sites because it takes a community to filter the information overload we face. In fact, Joan’s article was recommended in Stephen E. Arnold’s Beyond Search feed (which you should subscribe to).

With care and discernment, we can elevate human-centric content, rethinking information democracy as a shared, collaborative process anchored in trusted human judgment, not computational fiat.        

Whatever your role, your value is in your human judgment rather than content output. We need to remember that and be informed consumers of content from humans we trust.

p.s. Regular readers may note that this is one of my very few posts focused on AI. I do not like to pontificate until I feel that I have an informed opinion. Generative AI has evolved with incredible speed. I will opine only when and where I feel that I am not wasting your time.

Greg Buckles wants your feedback, questions or project inquiries at Greg@eDJGroupInc.com. Book a free 15 minute ‘Good Karma’ call if he has availability. He solves problems and creates eDiscovery solutions for enterprise and law firm clients.

Greg’s blog perspectives are personal opinions and should not be interpreted as a professional judgment or advice. Greg is no longer an investigative journalist and all perspectives are based on best public information. Blog content is neither approved nor reviewed by any providers prior to being published. Do you want to share your own perspective? Greg is looking for practical, professional informative perspectives free of marketing fluff, hidden agendas or personal/product bias. Outside blogs will clearly indicate the author, company and any relevant affiliations. 

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