UC Berkeley Law is introducing a stricter Artificial Intelligence policy that bars students from using the technology for conceptualizing, outlining, drafting, revising, editing, translating, or for any purpose in an exam situation. The school is not trying to ban the technology outright. The policy is designed to ensure students develop the core skills of legal analysis and writing before relying on automated tools. Chris Hoofnagle, a professor involved in writing the policy, said the focus is preserving the professional value of lawyers’ own judgment and making sure students can assess Artificial Intelligence output rather than depend on it.
Faculty concluded that the 2023 Artificial Intelligence use policy was too permissive as generative models improved. The earlier rules allowed uses such as brainstorming and conceptualization, including asking a chatbot to suggest a paper topic. Hoofnagle said newer large language models can now produce a research paper from start to finish, forcing the school to reconsider how much reliance should be allowed. UC Berkeley Law’s new policy, which will go into effect this summer, was approved by a faculty vote, though instructors can deviate from it, and some Artificial Intelligence-focused courses will operate under different standards.
The tighter restrictions come even as legal employers increasingly expect graduates to be comfortable with Artificial Intelligence tools. Hoofnagle said students want these courses and are learning during summer work that law firms already use the technology extensively. Startups like Harvey and Legora are competing for the estimated ? trillion global legal market, and Harvey has offered free access to law schools as part of its expansion. Hoofnagle noted that Stanford Law School, which had a stricter policy when Berkeley adopted its initial rules in 2023, is part of Harvey’s law school alliance program.
Enforcement remains difficult because Artificial Intelligence features are spreading across standard research and search products. Hoofnagle acknowledged loopholes and said policing misuse is increasingly hard when search engines and legal databases add large language model summaries. He said Lexis and Westlaw now include generated summaries, making a clean prohibition unrealistic because the school obviously cannot ban search. Berkeley Law has seen an uptick in misconduct cases and has shifted more take-home exams to in-person testing. Princeton recently announced the most significant change to its honor code in 133 years, and as of July 1, all in-person examinations will be proctored, with the rise of Artificial Intelligence cited as one reason.