UC Berkeley Law is completely banning AI use starting summer 2026

https://preview.redd.it/ndvvmvya583h1.png?width=1000&format=png&auto=webp&s=4c8eda26ba648a7197703bfb7034c8187c37d187 The dean of UC Berkeley Law, Erwin Chemerinsky, just laid down some strict new rules on how students can use AI, and it is going into effect in the summer of 2026. Basically, the tech is going to be completely banned across almost all graded assignments. Under these new rules, students won't be allowed to use AI for brainstorming, outlining, drafting, editing, translating, or even proofreading. It is completely out of the question for exams too. The only real exception is for actual legal research, like looking up statutes or case law in databases. But there is a catch, students are still personally on the hook for every single fact they cite, and any fake or hallucinated citations will be taken as direct proof that they used banned AI tools. The only way around this is if a professor gives a specific exception for a class that actually teaches how to work with these tools. The administration's reasoning is that future lawyers need to build up their core critical thinking skills first before they start leaning on tech tools in their practice. It really highlights the bigger debate happening right now in legal education around how to stop the errors and biases that come with generative models, especially since this tech is changing the legal field so fast. Source:[https://the-decoder.com/one-of-the-worlds-top-law-schools-draws-a-hard-line-against-ai-in-legal-education/](https://the-decoder.com/one-of-the-worlds-top-law-schools-draws-a-hard-line-against-ai-in-legal-education/)