Hold on Tight, Kids! Are you Thinking About Becoming a Lawyer?
Generative AI Might Completely Change the Practice of Law
By: Rooz Aliabadi, Ph.D.
Lawyers are professionals who work in the legal field and usually like to stick to old ways of doing things. They are known for being careful and following rules and traditions. But something interesting happened to a lawyer named Steven Schwartz that made him realize how powerful computers can be! He used a special computer program called Chat-GPT to help him with his work, but he relied on it too much and made many mistakes. The computer gave him the wrong information, which he didn’t check before using in his court papers. This made him realize that even though computers are helpful, it’s important for lawyers to double-check their work.
But don’t worry; it’s not the computer’s fault! It’s like blaming a printer for mistakes in a document that was typed on a typewriter. The responsibility lies with the lawyer who didn’t review the computer’s work. These types of super-smart computers, also known as artificial intelligence or AI, are amazing tools that can change the way lawyers work and make money. They can also be used in many other fields. But in the legal profession, they have a special role to play.
Did you know that AI could do almost half of the tasks that lawyers do? A big bank called Goldman Sachs found out that about 44% of legal work can be done by AI. That’s more than most other jobs! Lawyers spend a lot of time reading and analyzing documents, which is something AI is really good at. AI can help lawyers do research, find information, and analyze data. This kind of AI is called “extractive” AI because it extracts information from texts and gives specific answers.
But there’s another type of AI called “generative” AI that is even more advanced. It can do more than just find information. It can help lawyers with legal research and reviewing documents. For example, there is a legal assistant called CoCounsel. It can understand what words mean and find the same meaning even if the words are different. Another AI tool called Harvey is used by a law firm in London. It helps with things like analyzing contracts and getting ready for court cases.
Some lawyers are not sure about using generative AI because they worry that it might give them wrong information. They call it “hallucinations” because the AI can confidently make things up, like what happened to Mr. Schwartz. They are also concerned about the AI seeing private information that should stay between a lawyer and their client. But these challenges can be overcome by improving the technology and having careful people check the AI’s work. Over time, more and more law firms will start using generative AI, just like how they switched from using libraries to using online databases for research.
AI can change the legal profession in three big ways. First, it can help smaller law firms compete with bigger ones. Normally, big law firms have lots of lawyers working on cases, but with AI, even a small firm or a single lawyer can handle big cases by using AI to go through lots of documents quickly. Second, AI can change how law firms make money. Right now, law firms charge clients based on how much time they spend on a case. But if AI can do the work in seconds, law firms might start charging a fixed fee for the service they provide. They might also add a “technology fee” to show that using AI is valuable. And third, AI might change how many lawyers we need and where they work. If AI can do a task in 20 seconds that would take a team of lawyers 50 hours, then big law firms might not need as many lawyers. The number of lawyers might decrease, but it might also create new opportunities for lawyers to start their own practices with the help of AI.
These changes might not happen right away, but AI can make legal services cheaper and more accessible to more people. Right now, it’s hard for small businesses to afford legal help, but AI can make it easier. And new lawyers who just finished law school might find it easier to start their own law firms because of AI. It’s like how ATMs changed the banking industry. Instead of replacing bank employees, ATMs made their jobs different. AI can do the same for lawyers.
In the end, AI can be really good for clients. When people need legal help, what they really want is a solution to their problem, not just a lawyer. If AI can help solve their problems quickly and effectively, people will be happy to use it. We can see this happening already in other areas, like using software for taxes instead of hiring a tax advisor. People don’t miss the social interaction with advisors because they care more about getting things done. As long as AI can help with legal issues, clients will be happy to use it. So, the future of law could be super smart computers working with lawyers to make things easier and better for everyone!
This Chat GPT Lesson Plan and others are available FREE to all educators at edu.readyai.org
This article was written by Rooz Aliabadi, Ph.D. (rooz@readyai.org). Rooz is the CEO (Chief Troublemaker) at ReadyAI.org
To learn more about ReadyAI, visit www.readyai.org or email us at info@readyai.org
