Scaling Laws: How AI Can Transform Local Criminal Justice, with Francis Shen
The Lawfare Podcast
The Lawfare Institute
4.7 • 6.4K Ratings
🗓️ 16 January 2026
⏱️ 53 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Alan Rozenshtein, research director at Lawfare, spoke with Francis Shen, Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota, director of the Shen Neurolaw Lab, and candidate for Hennepin County Attorney.
The conversation covered the intersection of neuroscience, AI, and criminal justice; how AI tools can improve criminal investigations and clearance rates; the role of AI in adjudication and plea negotiations; precision sentencing and individualized justice; the ethical concerns around AI bias, fairness, and surveillance; the practical challenges of implementing AI systems in local government; building institutional capacity and public trust; and the future of the prosecutor's office in an AI-augmented justice system.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's the Lawfare Podcast. I'm Kevin Frazier, the AI Innovation and Law Fellow at the University of Texas School of Law and a senior editor at Lawfare. |
| 0:10.9 | Today we're bringing you something a little different. It's an episode from our new podcast series, Scaling Laws. |
| 0:18.5 | Scaling Laws is a creation of lawfare and Texas law. It has a pretty simple |
| 0:23.2 | aim, but a huge mission. We cover the most important AI and law policy questions that are top |
| 0:29.6 | of mind for everyone from Sam Altman to Senators on the Hill to folks like you. We dive deep into |
| 0:36.0 | the weeds of new laws, various proposals, and what the labs are up to |
| 0:40.4 | to make sure you're up to date on the rules and regulations, standards, and ideas that are |
| 0:45.8 | shaping the future of this pivotal technology. |
| 0:48.6 | If that sounds like something you're going to be interested in, and our hunches it is, |
| 0:52.6 | you can find scaling laws wherever you |
| 0:54.9 | subscribe to podcasts. You can also follow us on X and Blue Sky. Thank you. |
| 1:03.9 | When the AI overlords take over, what are you most excited about? It's not crazy. It's just |
| 1:09.9 | smart. And just this year in the first six months, there have been something like a thousand laws. |
| 1:14.7 | Who's actually building the scaffolding around how it's going to work, how everyday folks are |
| 1:19.4 | going to use it? |
| 1:20.0 | AI only works if society lets it work. |
| 1:22.7 | There are so many questions have to be figured out. |
| 1:25.9 | Nobody came to my bonus class. |
| 1:27.4 | Let's enforce the rules |
| 1:28.5 | of the road welcome to scaling laws a podcast from lawfare and the university of texas school of law |
| 1:36.7 | that explores the intersection of ai law and policy i'm alan rosenstein associate professor of law |
| 1:42.4 | at the university of Minnesota, and research director |
... |
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