How AI is Changing the Legal Industry

The Effects of Generative AI on the Legal Industry

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been disrupting almost every industry and profession, but its impact on the legal field is particularly profound. Unlike the industrial revolution, which automated physical labor, AI-powered technologies are automating mental tasks and optimizing both blue-collar and white-collar jobs. The legal profession is being completely transformed by AI, with superhuman capabilities that were previously thought to be impossible.

Contract Law and AI

One area where AI is already making a significant impact is in contract review. Startups like Lawgeex provide services that use machine learning algorithms to review contracts faster and more accurately than humans. AI is also being used in the discovery process to identify relevant documents, saving time for attorneys. Companies like CS Disco provide AI-powered discovery services to law firms across the US.

AI Driven Legal Research

Another area where AI is being extensively used is in legal research. Services like Westlaw Edge use AI-powered features such as Quick Check, which analyzes draft arguments and identifies relevant authority that may have been missed. These tools not only save time for practicing attorneys but also improve the accuracy and thoroughness of their research.

AI Informed Decision Making

AI is also being used to predict legal outcomes and assist in decision-making. Companies like Lex Machina use machine learning predictive analytics to draw insights about individual judges, lawyers, and legal cases, predicting behaviors and outcomes. However, there are concerns about bias in these AI systems, as data used to train ML models may reflect or even amplify inherent biases present in the criminal justice system.

AI's Potential in Law

Despite these challenges, there are numerous potential benefits of integrating AI into the practice of law. For example, AI can increase attorney productivity by automating routine tasks and avoiding costly mistakes. It can also help expedite research and decision-making processes, greasing the wheels of justice.

However, it's important to note that AI is not yet ready to replace human judgment in the legal profession. There are several reasons for this: first, there may be biases embedded in the training data that fuels AI systems, leading to biased decision-making. Second, AI lacks the ability to adequately understand the rationale behind its derived decisions, making explainability a significant challenge in using AI technology in legal contexts.

Despite these limitations, attorneys are already using AI technologies, especially machine learning algorithms, to review contracts quickly and consistently. They are also using AI for legal research and analysis. These tools augment and enhance human capabilities, allowing attorneys to spot issues and errors that may have been missed.

The use of generative AI in the legal profession is another fascinating area. While AI-powered systems can generate content and even analyze it, they still require human authors to manage the creative process. The emergence of new algorithms and enormous AI models like GPT-3 created by OpenAI have revolutionized generative text tools.

However, there are still challenges with using AI in drafting legal contracts. The performance of an AI system depends on the labeling of data used to train it. Legal performance varies depending on context and jurisdiction, making it difficult for an AI system to generate good contracts that meet all requirements.

In conclusion, while AI is reshaping the legal profession with its superhuman capabilities and potential benefits such as increased productivity and faster research processes, it is not yet ready to replace human judgment entirely. There are challenges related to bias in training data, explainability of decisions made by AI systems, and domain expertise required for complex legal tasks. Nevertheless, when used correctly as a tool alongside human professionals in the legal industry, AI can significantly improve efficiency and contribute to a more streamlined and just legal system. If you are thinking about implementing automation AI into your law practice, please reach out and we would be happy to help get you off to a good start.