Will the legal industry be the sector that’s most disrupted by AI? Goldman Sachs think so, but first it’s important to understand what kind of AI we are talking about. The answer is generative. Generative AI is a branch of artificial intelligence that uses machine learning models to create new, original content. It's trained on a set of data and learns the patterns and structures within it, enabling it to generate similar but unique content. This technology can be used to create a wide range of outputs, including text, images, music, and speech, and its applications are endless. This technology has the potential to revolutionise the way people learn, work and create, but also to disrupt the very foundations of how organisations operate.
The legal sector has the potential to become the most disrupted industry in the economy, with a recent report stating that up to 44% of legal tasks in law firms could be automated by AI. By automating routine tasks such as drafting legal documents and conducting research, it can drastically increase efficiency and accuracy. Law firms can utilise generative AI to provide quicker responses to clients and aid in analysing large volumes of data for case preparation, uncovering insights that might be missed by human analysis. It’s clear that generative AI could be a transformative tool in the legal industry, reshaping traditional legal practices and presenting a huge opportunity for firms to enhance their service quality, efficiency, innovation, differentiation, and profitability.
However, it must be approached with caution. While generative AI holds immense potential, it also presents notable challenges and risks. One major concern is the risk of generating misleading or false information. Privacy is another significant issue, as AI models could unintentionally reveal sensitive information from the training data. There's also the risk of copyright infringement, and the potential for biased content, reflecting biases in the training data. There are also ethical considerations around the use of AI-generated content, including questions of authorship and authenticity. These challenges highlight the need for careful management, ethical guidelines, and regulatory oversight in the deployment of generative AI technologies.
It’s clear the generative AI stands as a hugely powerful tool for the legal sector, however it must be implemented with care. So, how can legal firms leverage generative AI to achieve their goals and overcome their challenges? What are the current and future trends and opportunities of generative AI in the legal sector?
Our upcoming webinar ‘The generative AI revolution in legal: everything you need to know' will aim to answer these questions and give you the information you need to ensure you’re at the forefront of this revolution. The webinar will cover:
- The rise of AI in the legal sector: understanding the current AI explosion and how it looks set to change the sector
- Basic generative AI applications in law: from document automation to predictive analytics and client interaction
- How major law firms are using AI right now: from contract drafting to better workflows, how are leading law firms using AI to gain competitive edge
- The legal AI start-up wave: a look at AI start-ups like Spellbook ‘the Chat GPT for law’, promising to transform the sector
- Ethical considerations and compliance: considering the difficulties AI presents around privacy risks, bias, hallucination and GDPR compliance
- Strategic implementation: an introduction to the best infrastructure for AI going forwards
If you want to learn more about how generative AI is changing the legal sector and how it could impact your firm, register today. or view our IT Services for Legal.