Artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models have saved legal teams thousands of hours on eDiscovery, contract review, and due diligence projects. However, the surge in interest over the past two years, especially with the rise of generative AI tools like ChatGPT, has created a seismic shift in the legal industry.
Now, the C-suite is increasingly asking in-house legal teams to harness AI to drive efficiency and optimise quality (and sometimes simply to ‘keep up with the Joneses’!). So, legal teams have started building custom tools and capabilities that were previously unattainable and adopting a wide range of third-party tools. For example, AI can help teams master formerly complex, time-consuming tasks, like undertaking a first-pass review to check contract compliance against a playbook or policy.
This shift raises critical questions. What’s the best way for legal teams to integrate AI into their operations?
Navigating the hype and reality of AI in legal
While enthusiasm for AI remains high, it’s essential to acknowledge that we may be entering the third phase of the five-phase Gartner Hype Cycle, the ‘Trough of Disillusionment’.
Initially, there was a rush to apply generative AI to everything, but now, many in-house legal teams are realising that certain tasks are better suited to more traditional tools, like document automation for drafting. Instead of using generative AI for everything, we need to think more broadly and use the right tool for the right job to maximise value and efficacy.
Still, generative AI has become a fixture on many lawyers’ desktops, embedded in contract lifecycle management (CLM) tools, spend management systems, various Word plug-ins, and other legal technologies. Key use cases for generative AI in legal include the following:
- Preparing summaries of contract terms
- Drafting emails, meeting notes, etc.
- Translating legal jargon into plain language
- Assisting with redlining contracts by summarising changes and suggesting alternatives from playbooks
- Supporting legal research
So, what do these new use cases mean for in-house legal teams? Do they need to assemble a team of AI ninjas in the legal department to use them? Is AI a core competency that all lawyers need to have? Or should they rely on outside experts with coding or data science expertise?
Do lawyers need to become AI experts?
The answer is largely no. AI is expected to become increasingly integrated into lawyers’ daily work, from drafting emails to negotiating contracts. Most AI applications in legal are designed as assistants rather than replacements, meaning they help lawyers perform tasks more efficiently but still require human oversight to ensure accuracy and appropriateness. For example, AI-powered tools are already suggesting alternate contract wording during negotiations but typically should still have a lawyer approving that wording.
So, in this context, it’s really important that the lawyer understands the premise of how AI is working, and, more importantly, that the lawyer understands the appropriate guardrails that they need to implement around AI: Where are those manual checks required? Where is the risk in relying solely on the AI outputs? Where is the data they are using being hosted and being shared? We don’t need every lawyer to train new AI models, but we need them to understand how to use it responsibly. The risk of not doing so could be catastrophic.
We also need lawyers who are particularly adept at technology and innovation to become champions of AI within their teams, driving new use cases and helping manage change. They may develop skills like prompt engineering so they can get the most out of generative AI tools. But, most importantly, they will be needed to bring the users (the lawyers) together with AI experts (developers and data scientists with years of specialised training and expertise) to design the tools and workflows needed to deliver optimal outcomes.
How to adapt—and make the most of—AI
As AI takes greater hold, lawyers must integrate it into their workflows whilst remaining vigilant about its risks. Some lawyers will excel in this new landscape, becoming innovators who drive change. But the role of AI centres of excellence and tech experts will remain vital in developing AI tools. Data scientists, coders, and other AI experts can supplement legal expertise, helping to navigate this technological shift and enhance legal’s capabilities in an increasingly AI-driven world.
If your legal team is asking questions similar to those we asked above and deciding how best to use AI, get in touch with one of our AI experts.