Third Annual TechinLaw Symposium - AI Ethics in Medicine and Law

Third Annual TechInLaw Symposium - AI Ethics in Medicine and Law

Friday, January 9, 2026
Karen J. Williams Courtroom, USC Joseph F. Rice School of Law
Also Streaming via Zoom Webinar
Six CLE Credits Pending, Including Two for Ethics

9:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. | Extended Registration for Symposium 

• Purpose: Check-In

9:45 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. | Pre-Symposium Vendor Viewing and Networking Coffee

• Purpose: Vendor Viewing and Networking Coffee

  • Stickers on the badge denoting AI interests for conversation icebreakers

    • Blue – AI Ethics, Green – AI Regulation and Policy, Yellow – AI in Professional Practice, Pink – AI in Education and Research, Orange – AI in Society 

10:15 - 10:25 a.m. | Opening Remarks

• Purpose: Welcome and Overview

• Goals: Introduce Purpose, Goal, Learning Objectives 

• Speaker: Given by Gary Moore

10:30 - 11:20 a.m. | AI: Expert Lawyer and Physician?

• Focus: AI Demonstration/Panel asking AI law/medicine questions and assessing answers

• Goals: Showcase AI’s capabilities and limitations in providing legal and medical expertise; foster discussion on accuracy, ethics, and professional accountability when AI operates in expert domains.

• Panelists: Dr. Leo Bonilha, Randall Wood, Esq., Patient Engagement Studio Representative

• Moderator: David Sella Villa

• Style: Prepared questions, demonstrations, and audience Q&A

11:20 a.m. – 11:35 a.m. | Break

11:35 a.m. - 12:05 p.m. | Overview of AI Initiatives at USC 

• Focus: Overview of AI initiatives at USC

• Goals: Discuss partnerships with OpenAI and ChatGPT, Copilot, BoodleBox, DataCamp

• Speaker: Elizabeth Shirkey

• Style: Lecture with audience Q&A

12:10 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. | Interdisciplinary Panel: “Five Years Forward: AI’s Disruption and Transformation Across Academia, Research, and Professional Practice”

• Focus: Explore how rapid advances in AI are reshaping medicine and law

• Goals: Address cross-disciplinary challenges like data use, automation, authorship, innovation, technology regulation, and educational ethics.

• Panelists: Jacqueline Fox, Bobby Miller, Patricia Weiss, Homayoun Valafar, Anthony D’Elia

• Moderator: Bryant Walker Smith

• Style: Prepared questions and audience Q&A.

1:00 - 2:05 p.m. | Vendors & Networking Lunch

• Activities:

  • Opportunity to visit Vendors

    • Microsoft

  • Networking Icebreaker:

    • Stickers on badge denoting AI interests for conversation icebreakers

      • Blue – AI Ethics, Green – AI Regulation and Policy, etc.

• Food:

  • Boxed Lunch provided for first 100 registrants

    • Handed out at designated table

  • Food Trucks

    • Located outside for other attendees

      • Tacos Oink Oink

      • Mama’s Taste of the World

2:10 – 3:00 p.m. | Keynote Lecture: "We Shape AI, and AI Shapes Us: Ethics, Identity, and the Future of Human Intellect"

Focus/Topics:

• Ethical Implications of AI in Medicine and Law: Exploring the moral responsibilities involved in AI’s application in these fields.

• AI and Human Identity: How AI impacts personal identity, autonomy, and human cognition.

• AI and Cognitive Transformation: Examining the potential of AI to alter human intellect and decision-making.

• Reciprocal Influence: The mutual shaping of AI technologies and human societal values.

• Bias and Fairness: Addressing biases embedded in AI systems and their effects on justice and healthcare.

Goals:

• Raising Awareness: Highlighting the ethical challenges AI poses in medicine and law.

• Fostering Interdisciplinary Dialogue: Encouraging collaboration between ethicists, legal scholars, healthcare professionals, and technologists.

• Exploring Human-AI Interaction: Understanding the influence of AI on human cognition and behavior.

• Navigating AI’s Future: Providing insights into how to shape AI development with ethical foresight and responsibility.

Speaker: Shannon Bowen
Style: 40min lecture with 10min audience Q&A 

3:00 – 3:15 p.m. | Break

3:15– 4:15 p.m. | Closing Debate: "AI – Navigating Promise"

Motion:/Focus: "In its current trajectory, the benefits of AI in medicine and law can be guided to outweigh its risks.

Style: Oxford-style debate with two speakers per team.
Format:

• Opening statements (5 minutes each)

• Cross-examination (speakers question each other)

• Audience Q&A

Framing rationale: “Rather than framing AI as inherently good or bad, this debate will explore how AI’s benefits and risks can be balanced through ethical, legal, and practical guardrails. It will emphasize that AI is not a distant concept but a present reality that students and professionals must learn to shape responsibly, highlighting opportunities for interdisciplinary stewardship.”

Debaters:

• Pro AI

  • Law: Zoe Niesel 

  • Med: Jonathan Gleson

• Cautious AI

  • Law: Bryant Walker Smith

  • Med: Charles J. Carter

Moderator - Anthony D' Elia

4:20 - 4:30 p.m. | Closing Remarks & Future Directions

• Purpose: Closing and Thank You

• Goals: Call for future symposium topics, how to stay connected, invitations to ongoing AI ethics discussions at USC, CME/CLE Credit Instructions.

• Speaker: Leo Bonilha