Chapman Law Review
Abstract
Artificial intelligence (AI) is triggering societal transformation at an unprecedented pace, yet our legal system struggles to keep up, often relying on incremental tweaks to outdated rules. This Article argues that such conventional legal thinking is not just inadequate but also a source of inconsequential scholarship. By failing to anticipate AI’s trajectory and address foundational issues, incrementalism allows “legal tech debt” to mount, increasing risks of policy failure, societal disruption, and erosion of the rule of law. We must leapfrog this dangerous inertia. This Article proposes and defines a necessary alternative: systemic legal scholarship. This forward-looking paradigm requires legal experts to: (1) engage in disciplined foresight, adapting methods from technology forecasting to identify legal domains needing fundamental change; (2) propose wholesale architectural reforms, questioning existing legal structures, and designing new ones fit for an AI-integrated future; and (3) embed dynamism and adaptability into these new frameworks, ensuring they can coevolve with technology and society. Illustrating this approach through critical challenges like data governance for AI in public education, this Article provides principles and a template for rethinking law’s role. It is an urgent call for legal scholars, policymakers, and concerned citizens to move beyond incrementalism and embrace the systemic vision required to ensure AI aligns with human flourishing and strengthens our democratic foundations.
Recommended Citation
Kevin Frazier,
Systemic Legal Scholarship for Systemic AI,
29
Chap. L. Rev.
51
(2026).
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/chapman-law-review/vol29/iss1/2