Automation, not advice, the current path of artificial intelligence in the legal sector
Large language models like ChatGPT are based on huge corpora of texts. This means you have access to enough information to pass the standardized Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) with high marks.
However, if you seek legal advice from ChatGPT, you will be directed to call a lawyer, adding that they are not authorized to give legal advice. At least not yet.
Russell Alexander, a Canadian attorney who owns a family law firm in Ontario, has written a book on AI and law.
He believes it’s only a matter of time before non-professionals start using AI programs to provide legal advice without proper legal training or certification.
“I think this is just around the corner … an unauthorized legal practice,” Alexander told BIV. “Maybe there are people who use AI to give legal advice without being licensed. No, so this will be a difficult regulatory issue for our governing bodies to deal with.”
That’s just one of Canada’s new problems. artificial intelligence and data law Using AI to provide non-professional services or advice.
There may be other ethical and legal issues that arise from the use of AI in law, but generally speaking, Alexander said AI could be a positive new tool to reduce the workload and costs of lawyers. said he thought it would be
“AI will not replace lawyers. Lawyers using AI will replace other lawyers,” said Alexander. “You need to get on board.”
In January, Alexander started a 30-day daily blog series on artificial intelligence and law based on his experience using OpenAI’s ChatGPT-3. As a result, Alexander decides that he needs to write a book, which will be published in a few weeks.
His company also struck a deal with a software company in Seattle to tweak some of their software to enable his company to use AI as part of their day-to-day operations.
Alexander identifies 30 ways AI can help law firms and lawyers.
“The impact is huge,” he said. “Predictive analytics, contract analysis, legal research, law drafting, document management, litigation management, legal chatbots, virtual assistants”
One way Alexander’s firm is using AI to reduce the workload of its attorneys is by applying it to writing final reports for clients.
“One of the things lawyers don’t want to do is make a final report to the client because it takes a long time to get a court order,” says Alexander.
“Usually they charge against it. What we can do now is take a court order and drop it to the AI, which will produce a final report based on that court order. I’ll still edit and review it, but it will be much more time efficient.
“So these are examples of how AI can be used today. Our company started doing this.”
AI can take on some of the tedious tasks that previously required humans with the ability to read, analyze, and write. Although the workload can be lightened, AI is not without flaws and weaknesses, so it still needs a lawyer to oversee its work.
“AI has some built-in biases,” said Alexander. “In this amazing example of AI, the program hoaxes something completely wrong, so lawyers still need to stay at the helm.”
But overall, he sees it as a new tool to improve efficiency for law firms everywhere.
“This is a great opportunity to make us more efficient.”
nbennett@biv.com
