Rebecca Crootof
@crootof.bsky.social
I tend to write about #TechLaw, war (especially #WarTorts), and bizarre torts hypos. Nancy Litchfield Hicks Professor of Law at University of Richmond School of Law; recently the ELSI Visiting Scholar at DARPA.
Pinned
Rebecca Crootof
@crootof.bsky.social
· Sep 2
As many know, @bjard.bsky.social and I have been drafting a Technology Law coursebook for a few years. We've used it to teach classes at three institutions, including Yale Law School, and others have used chapters in their techlaw classes.
We're excited to share the current version more broadly!
We're excited to share the current version more broadly!
Reposted by Rebecca Crootof
Christmas is coming, and the Black Friday sales signal we’re in peak gift-buying season.
When you’re picking out gifts for friends and family this year, there’s a whole slew of tech products that are better to avoid. I put together a guide to help you through it.
When you’re picking out gifts for friends and family this year, there’s a whole slew of tech products that are better to avoid. I put together a guide to help you through it.
A tech critic’s guide to holiday gift-giving
Maybe your grandma doesn’t need that Alexa smart speaker
disconnect.blog
November 25, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Christmas is coming, and the Black Friday sales signal we’re in peak gift-buying season.
When you’re picking out gifts for friends and family this year, there’s a whole slew of tech products that are better to avoid. I put together a guide to help you through it.
When you’re picking out gifts for friends and family this year, there’s a whole slew of tech products that are better to avoid. I put together a guide to help you through it.
Well. Guess it was just a matter of time.
Received a nice email from a PhD student, asking me to review their draft chapter, which relied heavily on my work and arguments. Par for the course.
Except I never wrote half of the articles they cited to, nor the quotations they attributed to me.
Received a nice email from a PhD student, asking me to review their draft chapter, which relied heavily on my work and arguments. Par for the course.
Except I never wrote half of the articles they cited to, nor the quotations they attributed to me.
November 18, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Well. Guess it was just a matter of time.
Received a nice email from a PhD student, asking me to review their draft chapter, which relied heavily on my work and arguments. Par for the course.
Except I never wrote half of the articles they cited to, nor the quotations they attributed to me.
Received a nice email from a PhD student, asking me to review their draft chapter, which relied heavily on my work and arguments. Par for the course.
Except I never wrote half of the articles they cited to, nor the quotations they attributed to me.
Same.
Quote post with a song you can’t hear without thinking of a movie it was in
"Magic Carpet Ride" by Steppenwolf
"Magic Carpet Ride" by Steppenwolf
November 18, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Same.
Reposted by Rebecca Crootof
The Against Generative AI bibliography over on my blog is now updated with full dates for each piece, making it easier to find new information (added almost daily): catherinedenial.org/blog/uncateg...
Against Generative AI – Cate Denial
catherinedenial.org
November 18, 2025 at 1:20 PM
The Against Generative AI bibliography over on my blog is now updated with full dates for each piece, making it easier to find new information (added almost daily): catherinedenial.org/blog/uncateg...
Chapter 5 is up!
Chapter 5: We lean heavily on @lessig.bsky.social's work to explore the distinctions between laws, norms, markets and architecture as regulatory modalities; we then explore how architectural regulation enables perfect enforcement and misdirected responsibility.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Technology Law Chapter 5: Regulatory Modalities
Based on years of experience teaching the subject, we have produced a first draft of a “Technology Law” coursebook. It teases out fundamental concepts, introduc
papers.ssrn.com
November 4, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Chapter 5 is up!
Reposted by Rebecca Crootof
No surprise given @charliesavage.bsky.social long track record here, but grateful for the most sophisticated piece of journalism yet on this issue. If you read one thing today, make it this: The Peril of a White House That Flaunts Its Indifference to the Law www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/u...
The Peril of a White House That Flaunts Its Indifference to the Law
www.nytimes.com
October 24, 2025 at 1:07 PM
No surprise given @charliesavage.bsky.social long track record here, but grateful for the most sophisticated piece of journalism yet on this issue. If you read one thing today, make it this: The Peril of a White House That Flaunts Its Indifference to the Law www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/u...
Chapter 4 is up!
Chapter 4: Solutionists and Luddites and Determinists, oh my! This chapter surveys various perspectives on the relationship between law and technology and considers how different stances can be used rhetorically to advance different regulatory aims.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Technology Law Chapter 4: Perspectives
<span>Based on years of experience teaching the subject, we have produced a first draft of a “Technology Law” coursebook. It teases out fundamental concepts, in
papers.ssrn.com
October 16, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Chapter 4 is up!
Reposted by Rebecca Crootof
The history of ELSI demonstrates that systematic ethical oversight strengthens rather than
constrains beneficial innovation. AI development now stands at a similar inflection point, but with
higher stakes and faster timelines.
constrains beneficial innovation. AI development now stands at a similar inflection point, but with
higher stakes and faster timelines.
An ELSI for AI: Learning from genetics to govern algorithms
In the United States, the summer of 2025 will be remembered as artificial intelligence’s (AI’s) cruel summer—a season when the unheeded risks and dangers of AI became undeniably clear. Recent months have made visible the stakes of the unchecked use of AI:...
www.science.org
October 10, 2025 at 3:15 PM
The history of ELSI demonstrates that systematic ethical oversight strengthens rather than
constrains beneficial innovation. AI development now stands at a similar inflection point, but with
higher stakes and faster timelines.
constrains beneficial innovation. AI development now stands at a similar inflection point, but with
higher stakes and faster timelines.
Chapter 3 is up!
Chapter 3 discusses the three tech-fostered social impacts (artifacts, activities, actors), provides suggestions for identifying legally influential ones (heavily informed by my DARPA work), and notes the regulatory impact of difference-in-degree/kind debates.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Technology Law Chapter 3: Social Impacts
<span>Based on years of experience teaching the subject, we have produced a first draft of a “Technology Law” coursebook. It teases out fundamental concepts, in
papers.ssrn.com
October 1, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Chapter 3 is up!
Reposted by Rebecca Crootof
one of the most important conversations tech companies should have about every new feature and product is "how can this be abused" and in OpenAI's case they apparently decided to make that the selling point for their new app
this is a million lawsuits and ruined lives waiting to happen
this is a million lawsuits and ruined lives waiting to happen
OpenAI employees are very excited about how well their new AI tool can create fake videos of people doing crimes and have definitely thought through all the implications of this
October 1, 2025 at 3:20 PM
one of the most important conversations tech companies should have about every new feature and product is "how can this be abused" and in OpenAI's case they apparently decided to make that the selling point for their new app
this is a million lawsuits and ruined lives waiting to happen
this is a million lawsuits and ruined lives waiting to happen
Reposted by Rebecca Crootof
I’ve had experience with a lot more generals and admirals than the average left-leaning critic of the military-industrial complex and 21st century wars. There’s an occasional jerk or narcissist, but generally they are thoughtful, committed, allergic to bullshit. Hope my sample is representative.
September 30, 2025 at 3:52 PM
I’ve had experience with a lot more generals and admirals than the average left-leaning critic of the military-industrial complex and 21st century wars. There’s an occasional jerk or narcissist, but generally they are thoughtful, committed, allergic to bullshit. Hope my sample is representative.
Reposted by Rebecca Crootof
Waymo dodges a ticket b/c tickets lack a field for robot drivers. Imagine if it got points for a moving violation, and every cars' points went to one AI's license, those could add up pretty quickly.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
California police stumped after trying to ticket driverless car for illegal U-turn
San Bruno officers pull over Waymo but say a ticket wasn’t issued, as ‘our citation books don’t have a box for “robot”’
www.theguardian.com
September 30, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Waymo dodges a ticket b/c tickets lack a field for robot drivers. Imagine if it got points for a moving violation, and every cars' points went to one AI's license, those could add up pretty quickly.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Been looking forward to reading this for a while!
Does your university have an account with Oxford Academic? If so, you can read the entirety of my book Law and Technology: A Methodical Approach here! academic.oup.com/book/61252
Validate User
academic.oup.com
September 26, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Been looking forward to reading this for a while!
Reposted by Rebecca Crootof
"The Internet Archive isn't scraped by AI—they prohibit the bots from training on their massive trove of data. So from the perspective of AI, the Internet Archive simply does not exist."
Is AI Hiding Your Past Publications? A Warning for Journalists, Authors and Scholars
We all know Google search is terrible now. But AI might be worse - it might be actively hiding your past published work by pretending no public link exists on the web.
linttrapofhistory.substack.com
September 24, 2025 at 1:43 PM
"The Internet Archive isn't scraped by AI—they prohibit the bots from training on their massive trove of data. So from the perspective of AI, the Internet Archive simply does not exist."
Reposted by Rebecca Crootof
I like this -- they fed AITA posts where the humans voted "asshole" to LLMs and found that the bots would almost always tell you that you're not an asshole. ^^; No wonder they're so popular!
www.businessinsider.com/reddit-aita-...
www.businessinsider.com/reddit-aita-...
Am I the jerk? Redditors say yes — but ChatGPT and other bots say no.
ChatGPT and other AI bots tell posters from Reddit's "AITA" subreddit that, actually, they're not the jerks. Should we believe it?
www.businessinsider.com
September 21, 2025 at 3:45 PM
I like this -- they fed AITA posts where the humans voted "asshole" to LLMs and found that the bots would almost always tell you that you're not an asshole. ^^; No wonder they're so popular!
www.businessinsider.com/reddit-aita-...
www.businessinsider.com/reddit-aita-...
Reposted by Rebecca Crootof
🚨 New Publication 🚨
ISP Fellows Rebecca Crootof & @bjard.bsky.social have launched their Technology Law coursebook!
First chapters now live:
📑 TOC: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
📘 Ch.1: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
📘 Ch.2: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
New chapters drop twice monthly.
ISP Fellows Rebecca Crootof & @bjard.bsky.social have launched their Technology Law coursebook!
First chapters now live:
📑 TOC: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
📘 Ch.1: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
📘 Ch.2: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
New chapters drop twice monthly.
Technology Law Front Matter
<span>
<p>Based on years of experience teaching the subject, we have produced a first draft of a “Technology Law” coursebook. It teases out fundamental concept
papers.ssrn.com
September 16, 2025 at 3:17 PM
🚨 New Publication 🚨
ISP Fellows Rebecca Crootof & @bjard.bsky.social have launched their Technology Law coursebook!
First chapters now live:
📑 TOC: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
📘 Ch.1: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
📘 Ch.2: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
New chapters drop twice monthly.
ISP Fellows Rebecca Crootof & @bjard.bsky.social have launched their Technology Law coursebook!
First chapters now live:
📑 TOC: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
📘 Ch.1: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
📘 Ch.2: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
New chapters drop twice monthly.
Nightstand Pile Files: Re-reading @jackbalkin.bsky.social's "Old School / New-School Speech Regulation," on governments' various techniques for controlling and surveilling speech.
I read it nearly every year. And every year it feels more and more relevant.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
I read it nearly every year. And every year it feels more and more relevant.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com
September 19, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Nightstand Pile Files: Re-reading @jackbalkin.bsky.social's "Old School / New-School Speech Regulation," on governments' various techniques for controlling and surveilling speech.
I read it nearly every year. And every year it feels more and more relevant.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
I read it nearly every year. And every year it feels more and more relevant.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Chapter 2 is up!
The prior chapter introduced our methodology for resolving techlaw uncertainties; Chapter 2 delineates what techlaw uncertainties actually are. In brief, they many manifest as application uncertainties, normative uncertainties, and institutional uncertainties.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Technology Law Chapter 2: Legal Uncertainties
<p>Based on years of experience teaching the subject, we have produced a first draft of a “Technology Law” coursebook. It teases out fundamental concepts, intro
papers.ssrn.com
September 15, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Chapter 2 is up!
Reposted by Rebecca Crootof
It has been 10 days now since the Trump administration conducted a lethal strike on a boat in the Caribbean.
In that time, the administration has not even attempted to present a legal justification for this premeditated killing of people outside of armed conflict.
In that time, the administration has not even attempted to present a legal justification for this premeditated killing of people outside of armed conflict.
NEW
🧵The White House has now issued its first formal legal justification for the lethal attack on a vessel in the Caribbean.
This War Powers report to Congress is long on bluster and short on substance.
This letter does not adequately justify the premeditated killing of apparent civilians. 1/n
🧵The White House has now issued its first formal legal justification for the lethal attack on a vessel in the Caribbean.
This War Powers report to Congress is long on bluster and short on substance.
This letter does not adequately justify the premeditated killing of apparent civilians. 1/n
September 12, 2025 at 10:57 AM
It has been 10 days now since the Trump administration conducted a lethal strike on a boat in the Caribbean.
In that time, the administration has not even attempted to present a legal justification for this premeditated killing of people outside of armed conflict.
In that time, the administration has not even attempted to present a legal justification for this premeditated killing of people outside of armed conflict.
Reposted by Rebecca Crootof
🧵 The summer of 2025 has been AI's "cruel summer"—wrongful deaths, dangerous therapy chatbots, medical misinformation, facial recognition failures. These aren't isolated glitches but predictable harms from systems deployed without adequate oversight. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
An ELSI for AI: Learning from genetics to govern algorithms
In the United States, the summer of 2025 will be remembered as artificial intelligence’s (AI’s) cruel summer—a season when the unheeded risks and dangers of AI became undeniably clear. Recent months h...
www.science.org
September 11, 2025 at 8:48 PM
🧵 The summer of 2025 has been AI's "cruel summer"—wrongful deaths, dangerous therapy chatbots, medical misinformation, facial recognition failures. These aren't isolated glitches but predictable harms from systems deployed without adequate oversight. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Nightstand Pile Files: Re-reading @rcalo.bsky.social's excellent "The Scale and the Reactor," on what techlaw and STS scholars can learn from each other.
Aside from informative and prescriptive, it is jam packed with delightful phrasings and analogies.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Aside from informative and prescriptive, it is jam packed with delightful phrasings and analogies.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
The Scale and the Reactor
The mainstream American legal academy, no less than American society as a whole, has struggled to understand and address new technology. Law professors are fina
papers.ssrn.com
September 10, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Nightstand Pile Files: Re-reading @rcalo.bsky.social's excellent "The Scale and the Reactor," on what techlaw and STS scholars can learn from each other.
Aside from informative and prescriptive, it is jam packed with delightful phrasings and analogies.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Aside from informative and prescriptive, it is jam packed with delightful phrasings and analogies.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Reposted by Rebecca Crootof
My school doesn’t offer a degree in Outlook, even though odds are very good that a majority of my students will be required to use it in their professional lives, and many of them will use it poorly/incorrectly.
September 7, 2025 at 4:34 PM
My school doesn’t offer a degree in Outlook, even though odds are very good that a majority of my students will be required to use it in their professional lives, and many of them will use it poorly/incorrectly.
Reposted by Rebecca Crootof
We’ll release new chapters biweekly with updates to our front matter and table of contents at docs.google.com/document/d/1....
Chapter 1 introduces our "techlaw uncertainties" approach at
docs.google.com/document/d/1....
We welcome your feedback!
Chapter 1 introduces our "techlaw uncertainties" approach at
docs.google.com/document/d/1....
We welcome your feedback!
September 4, 2025 at 4:33 PM
We’ll release new chapters biweekly with updates to our front matter and table of contents at docs.google.com/document/d/1....
Chapter 1 introduces our "techlaw uncertainties" approach at
docs.google.com/document/d/1....
We welcome your feedback!
Chapter 1 introduces our "techlaw uncertainties" approach at
docs.google.com/document/d/1....
We welcome your feedback!