AI Lawyers? Not Quite, but AI Is Changing the Legal World

With the rise in AI systems built on large language models, such as the ever-popular ChatGPT, more and more professionals are looking to the future and wondering what it means for the future of their industry—and of their specific job or role.

The legal industry is no exception. These AI programs have enough text and data that they could, in theory, pass standardized law tests. But the thought of an AI offering legal advice is still pretty frightening for most people—human lawyers included!

So is there a role for AI in the legal world? Here’s a closer look.

How AI Is Changing Legal Jobs

Anyone in the legal field knows that the vast majority of a lawyer’s work isn’t standing up for their clients in the courtroom. Rather, it’s studying case files and law books to find the exact laws that apply to their clients’ situations.

This part of legal work is where AI can help. AI tools are fantastic at working through huge amounts of information quickly. They have the potential to pull relevant case files and law codes in just minutes, even on complex cases that would take weeks for a human to search.

Drafting documents is also a major role of a law firm, and lawyers often delegate this work to legal aides and secretaries. AI can help make document creation more efficient, too. A future AI assistant could potentially draft an initial document and cite the appropriate case law in it, and then the humans can verify, edit, and publish it. (Current systems can’t be trusted to cite sources accurately, but it’s not a reach to assume future systems will gain this capability.)

Potential Concerns and Benefits of AI in Legal Jobs

Despite the potential benefits, the idea of trusting an AI with complex legal issues concerns many. These are a few of the concerns associated with AI in the legal field:

• Ethics: Lawyers are bound by ethical codes. Current AI tools are not (and there’s no guaranteeing an AI will understand and follow ethical codes in the way a human would). Those ethical codes will need to change and adapt to include an approach to the use of AI and technology in general. In addition, there will be questions about responsibility should AI make a mistake.

• Bias: Technology relies on algorithms and inputted data to work. If there is bias in that data or in the creation of those algorithms, it could affect the legal work done by an AI. Even if the AI is simply spitting out data rather than making judgments, bias in that data could affect the lawyer’s work (and be harder to spot than if the lawyer had done the work manually).

• Privacy: Privacy must be a top concern in legal matters, and current AI systems create significant privacy issues. Stringent privacy protocols will be necessary to protect legal clients.

• Accuracy: AI is not always accurate for a variety of complicated reasons. This problem isn’t likely to be solved quickly, leaving many in the law profession hesitant to trust it fully.

Of course, there are also benefits to be had. These include:

• Greater efficiency and capacity

• Potentially lower costs to clients (because fewer hours are spent)

• Less need for paraprofessional staff

Preparing for the Future: Adapting to AI in the Legal Field

AI won’t replace the need for ethical, trained law professionals—any use of AI systems will need the oversight of a skilled lawyer to avoid ethics and accuracy concerns.

But AI systems will soon make lawyers’ jobs less tedious. For example, AI tools can replace some of the grunt work that causes client bills to be so high.

Today’s law firms need to adapt to the strategic use of AI, or they are likely to find themselves replaced by the competition that does. The streamlining and greater efficiency provided by AI will make it an important part of the law field of the future, so now is the time to start learning how to use it well.