Innovation Hypercycles

Almost a year ago, on September 9, 2024, I was privileged to present my research on "Innovation Hypercycles - The Rise and Fall of Technological Hotspots" in my augural lecture as the Paul E. Wilson Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Kansas.  The video is now available here.  My lecture was about 90 minutes long. I hope you enjoy my lecture.

The Economist Meets The Earth Biogenome Project!

 The Economist magazine focused favourably on the Earth Biogenome Project in its July 31st issue:

One ambitious proposal is the [EBP], a moonshot idea to sequence all the planet's eukaryotic life - that is, all plants, animals, fungi and so forth.  This would help scientists uncover the hidden handiwork of evolution, monitor how endangered species respond to global warming, and mine genomes for useful biological compounds, such as antibiotics.

I currently serve on the the EBP's Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications Committee, and I welcome this recognition of this immensely worthwhile Project.  The article is critical of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing of the Convention on Biological Diversity, suggesting that the Protocol impedes biodiversity research and the sharing of benefits from such research.  For that reason, The Economist suggests scrapping the Protocol.  However, like understanding a subject as complex as biodiversity, ditching the Protocol is far easier said than done! 

Drawing Write With AI

In an article entitled "ChatGPT isn’t great for the planet. Here’s how to use AI responsibly - AI is straining power grids and producing harmful emissions. But being thoughtful about when and how you use chatbots can help.", published on June 19, 2025, the Washington Post quoted Bill Tomlinson and cited an article Bill coauthored with Rebecca Black, Don Patterson, and me.  In our article, "The carbon emissions of writing and illustrating are lower for AI than for humans", published on February 14, 2024, in the Nature journal, Scientific Reports, we compared the carbon emissions resulting from human-versus-AI writing and drawing.  Even we were surprised that, under certain circumstances, AI leads to lower carbon emissions to produce results equivalent to those authored by humans.

Front And Centaur

 My brilliant colleague, Bill Tomlinson, and I were delighted when the Texas A&M Journal of Property Law ("TAMUJPL") decided to publish four of our biodiversity law articles in a special issue.  The four articles can be found here:

Invasives: The How of Biodiversity Loss 

Population: The Who of Biodiversity Law 

Pollution: The What of Biodiversity Loss 

Overharvesting: The Why of Biodiversity Loss

The excellent editors penned a thoughtful introduction to the issue in which they announced a paradigm shift toward acceptance of articles produced by what Ethan Mollick has named the "Centaur" method.  Bill and I have been experimenting since 2022 on a project of integrating artificial intelligence ("AI") into the process of scholarly research and writing.  We even published an article in 2023 on how to write with AI, entitled "ChatGPT and Works Scholarly: Best Practices and Legal Pitfalls in Writing with AI".  This TAMUJPL special issue marks an important milestone in our project.

So, it was gratifying to see coverage of the special TAMUJPL issue, the special introductory editorial article, and our four articles in ABOVE THE LAW ("ATL") on June 9, 2025, and in the ABAJOURNAL on June 10, 2025.  The ATL article is entitled "Law Review Puts Out Full Issue Of Articles Written With AI, with a wonderful subtitle (that is, "Do androids dream of electric footnotes") that nods to one of Philip K. Dick's masterpieces.  The ABAJOURNAL article is entitled "AI takes on starring role in 4 articles published by law journal".

We hope Chiron, Cloudbirth, and Firenze would approve.

Quill To Query

 Thank you to Julianne Hill, who published "Does Artificial Intelligence Have a Role in Legal Scholarship?" in the ABAJOURNAL on May 2, 2025.  I was honored and delighted to be interviewed for the article.  The article also has a great photograph of my brilliant friend, Prof. Dan Linna of Northwestern Law School, along with his sage insights. 

The Right To Invent Tomorrow

 Aidan McCullen is an innovation leader.  Gifted entrepreneur, speaker, university lecturer, and former professional rugby player, he is the founder and host of The Innovation Show.  I was delighted to be Aidan's guest this past week.  We had a wonderful conversation together about roles the law plays, and could better play, in fostering innovation, especially in its open, user, collaborative, and free flavours.  Along the way, we discovered unexpected commonalities in ancestry and interests.  Here is my appearance on Aidan's The Innovation Show:

Thanks again, Aidan, for the golden opportunity to meet and speak with you about innovation and how to make it thrive.  I look forward to crossing paths with you again soon.

Maith thú, a dheartháir!

ChatGPT And Works Scholarly

 In 2023, my colleagues, Professors Bill Tomlinson and Rebecca Black, and I published an article in the SMU Law Review entitled "ChatGPT and Works Scholarly:  Best Practices and Legal Pitfalls in Writing with AI".  It discusses the power and pitfalls of co-authoring with AI.  Morgan Kromer, of The College Fix, covered our article, and a fun chat he had with me, on February 19, 2025.

Should California Stay Or Should It Go?

I had the good fortune of being interviewed by journalist Elizabeth Weise for her article, written with Josh Peter, today (January 24, 2025) in USA Today, entitled "A free California? Trump visits as initiative to leave U.S. cleared to gather signatures".  Her interest was sparked by an article Prof. Bill Tomlinson and I published in 2020, entitled "Fault Lines: An Empirical Legal Study of California Secession", available here.   Here's the article by Weise and Peter:  https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/01/24/country-of-california-secession-newsom-trump/77907859007/

	Trump greeted by Newsom in Los Angeles ahead of wildfires tour Trump and Newsom have been trading barbs over water. How far could this dispute go? www.usatoday.com

The conundrum California faces is nicely summarized by The Clash, in its song, "Should I stay or should I go?":

Whatever route California decides to take, it will not easy:  "If I go, there will be trouble.  And, if I stay, it will be double."

Third Time's A Trademark

 Matthew Kelly wrote a very nice article about how trademark law might affect use of the phrase "Three Peat" to describe a third consecutive Kansas City Super Bowl victory in February 2025.  To kick off the trademark issues implicated by "Three Peat", Matthew interviewed, and quoted, me in the article.  

Innovation Hypercycles - The Rise and Fall of Technology Hotspots

On the eve of the COVID-19 pandemic (January 26, 2020), I was invited to Queen's University, where I gave a TEDx talk on my theory of innovation hypercycles, entitled "The Birth and Death of Technology Hotspots".  With that pandemic in the rearview mirror, on September 9, 2024, I was honoured to deliver, as my inaugural lecture on being named the Paul E. Wilson Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Kansas, an updated and expanded version, called "Innovation Hypercycles - The Rise of Fall of Technology Hotspots".  Thank you very much to both universities for the opportunity to share my ideas.