Robert Diab

Why some lawyers are turning off the internet to use AI When you're unsure commercial platforms are private enough, running your own model may be the answer

I explore why in my new piece:

www.nationalmagazine.ca/en-ca/articl...

Can lawyers safely use AI on client files or Crown disclosure?

Law society and Crown policies don’t offer clear answers.
Even “legal AI” tools like Lexis’ Protégé leave room for doubt.

Some lawyers — and courts — are turning to the nuclear option: running AI offline.

Why some lawyers are turning off the internet to use AI When no commercial platform is private enough, running your own model may be the answer

When you're not sure commercial AI platforms are private enough to trust with client information or Crown disclosure, running your own model may be the answer, writes @robertdiab.bsky.social nationalmagazine.ca/en-ca/articl...

How Profs and Students Are Using AI in Law Schools Around the World - Slaw Law schools everywhere are confronting the same issue: how to use AI to help rather than hinder student learning. In an earlier column, I speculated on ways we might help law students foster good over...

Should law students use AI to summarize cases, draft outlines, or edit writing?

I explore 10 ways students are using AI in law schools worldwide, and the key challenge of avoiding over-reliance.

www.slaw.ca/2025/11/10/h...

Looking forward to it as well. Glad it's finally happening!

Do CSIS and Police Really Need More ‘Lawful Intercept’ Powers? A new report makes Parliament’s case for Bill C-2 — and why it falls short

In my latest post, I look at what the report actually says, and why the case for lawful access still doesn’t add up.

robertdiab.substack.com/p/do-csis-an...

Do police and CSIS need new “lawful intercept” powers to keep up with technology?

Parliament says yes. But in a new declassified report meant to justify Bill C-2, it offers little hard data to back this up.

Do CSIS and Police Really Need More ‘Lawful Intercept’ Powers? A new report makes Parliament’s case for Bill C-2 — and why it falls short

Do CSIS and police really need new “lawful intercept” powers?
Parliament says yes — but the evidence is thin.

Why a new declassified report making the case for Bill C-2 doesn’t hold up.

robertdiab.substack.com/p/do-csis-an...

OpenAI’s newly launched Sora 2 makes AI’s environmental impact impossible to ignore As AI shifts from text to video, its appetite for power and water soars, presenting a climate-policy issue.

Video generating #AI like #Sora2 highlight the technology's voracious thirst for energy and water, costs that must be transparent if growth is to be sustainable, argues @robertdiab.bsky.social

theconversation.com/openais-newl... #sustainability

OpenAI’s newly launched Sora 2 makes AI’s environmental impact impossible to ignore Debate is focused on misinformation, but AI's footprint — in energy and water — may prove the more urgent challenge for regulators.

OpenAI’s new Sora 2 can turn text into lifelike video, but at what environmental cost? As AI moves from words to video, its power and water demands are set to soar.

My latest for The Conversation/Substack asks how sustainable the next AI leap really is.

robertdiab.substack.com/p/openais-ne...

Why Lawsuits Over AI Summaries Will Fail: There is No Right to Traffic | TechPolicy.Press Robert Diab makes the case that lawsuits over Google’s AI Overviews won’t create a “right to traffic."

Publishers are suing Google over AI Overviews, claiming traffic losses. But as Robert Diab argues: “The attempt to rely on copyright and antitrust law is really an indirect attempt to assert what can’t be claimed directly: a property right in clicks.”

Which is not to say that some of those controversial provisions might not return in a separate bill. But not if no other party is on board…

David, thanks for being the first to post. The new bill is now out. Most of the criminal stuff and — more crucially — the lawful access regime (the SAAIA) is gone.

Money laundering, sex offender provisions still there, but no "information demand"; no subscriber ID on lower grounds.

A big sigh...

Government to table new border bill amid privacy concerns over C-2: sources | CBC News The federal Liberals are set to introduce a new bill expected to mirror much of what's in their already tabled border legislation — but with some clauses that sparked concerns from opposition parties ...

Thank you to @karanicolas.bsky.social for alerting me to this: Liberals backtracking on C-2, tabling a revised bill this week... www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

Poilievre: "They should reintroduce a new bill that focuses on law breakers, on restoring order at the border, on kicking out fraudulent refugees, while at the same time allowing people to send mail, use the internet or do legitimate lawful cash transactions."

Conservatives won't support Liberal border bill without major changes: Pierre Poilievre | CBC News Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says the federal Liberals must either heavily amend their border bill or introduce a new piece of proposed legislation if they want support to pass it into law.

Happy to see this -- now all opposition parties opposed to new search powers in C-2. www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

Trying out Perplexity's Comet browser, made free to all users yesterday. Had been using Arc's Dia browser. Found that enormously useful. P's Comet so far faster, more functional. Will write about it shortly... Here's a table comparing the two...

BC Court of Appeal turns down doctors' class action against RateMDs — no privacy in names and contact info, no commercial exploitation of docs' identities. canlii.ca/t/kfhmc

Will Canada’s new hate crime bill impact free speech online? What Bill C-9 adds to our hate speech laws — and whether it fills a real gap

Early impressions of Canada’s new hate crime bill (C-9): @richardmoon.bsky.social: flag waving offence may be redundant; the CCF, it may chill speech. Here’s my take:

robertdiab.substack.com/p/will-canad...

Will Canada’s new hate crime bill impact free speech online? What Bill C-9 adds to our hate speech laws — and whether it fills a real gap

Will new hate speech offences in Bill C-9 impact speech online? Will they fill real gaps in the law? I put them in context here…

robertdiab.substack.com/p/will-canad...

How AI has made me more productive From faster research to sharper drafts, here’s how AI is changing the way legal writing gets done

No shortage of hype around AI and productivity. But in my own work, the gains have started to feel tangible. Not incremental, but structural, like moving from typewriter to word processor. I unpack this shift in National Magazine:

www.nationalmagazine.ca/en-ca/articl...

Authorship after AI What the birth of photography reveals about writing with AI

What photography did to painting, AI may now be doing to writing. Does this mark the death of authorship, or its reinvention? robertdiab.substack.com/p/authorship...

CBC Ian Hanomansing speaks to Robert Diab, Law professor at Thompson Rivers University Get the latest on CBCNews.ca, the CBC News App, and CBC News Network for breaking news and analysis.

Just spoke with Ian Hanomansing on the CBC about Bill C-2, trying to convey in a short space some of the many privacy concerns with it. www.cbc.ca/player/play/...

The latest issue (vol 58 no 2) of the UBC Law Review is now available on CanLII! With contributions from Jon Festinger, Céline Castets-Renard, Robert Diab, Bradley Henderson, Katie Szilagyi, Peter Wills, Isabelle St-Hilaire, David Cohen + Matthew Peters. #ai #techlaw #legalcommentary zurl.co/DKCqY

When AI Turns Deadly: Are Model Makers Responsible? The limits of liability in Canada

What happens when AI leads to self-harm or criminality? Could lawsuits unfolding in the U.S. be brought here in Canada? robertdiab.substack.com/p/when-ai-tu...

"Google has declined to implement the Commissioner’s recommendation"... The Commissioner is "considering all available options"...

Thanks David!

Bill C-2 Backgrounder — the missing manual! t.co/y2ORIYSoHI

Lisa, this was terrific! Hope they’ll reconsider.

A big brother bill Experts say Bill C-2 lowers the bar and broadens the scope to allow more access by police and intelligence agents to Canadians’ private data

The CBA's National Magazine has a good article on #BillC2, including comments from me, @mgeist.bsky.social, @robertdiab.bsky.social and @citizenlab.ca
www.nationalmagazine.ca/en-ca/articl...