Above the Law has published the sequel to its popular Legal Tech-to-English Dictionary, updated for the artificial intelligence era and sponsored by CosmoLex.
The original dictionary launched in 2022, when AI had not yet reshaped the legal industry in the dramatic way it has since come to do.
The new edition promises to cover both AI and practice management terminology, positioning itself as essential reading for lawyers navigating a rapidly changing professional landscape.
The publication opens with a pointed reminder that technology competence is now an ethics requirement for lawyers in most jurisdictions across the United States.
The dictionary’s author makes clear that competitors in the legal space are already leveraging AI tools, making familiarity with the terminology a practical and professional necessity.
One of the foundational entries covers the word “prompt,” defined as a verb meaning “to engage with an AI platform, via text or voice, to request an output, which request can be supplemented by additional, uploaded information.”
The entry notes that the term was coined by Norbert Wiener as a method for adding human failsafes into government intelligence programs, before being adopted for machine learning in the post-Cold War period.
Another key entry covers synthetic media, defined as “text, images, audio, and/or video generated, in whole, or in part, by artificial intelligence,” with cross-references to related terms including deepfakes, voice cloning, and natural language generation.
The dictionary is structured to serve lawyers who want a grounded understanding of AI without requiring a technical background or prior exposure to machine learning concepts.
A full eBook edition is planned for release during summer 2026, produced in partnership with CosmoLex, which will compile the full range of terminology covered across the series.
The project reflects a broader recognition within the legal industry that understanding AI is no longer optional for practitioners who want to remain competitive and ethically compliant.
The author notes with some humour that no artificial intelligence was used in the creation of the publication, adding that all em dashes were inserted manually, “just as nature intended.”