Today, Thomson Reuters joined the race to announce its entry into the Large Language Model (LLM) marketplace and what it generally plans to develop in the future. The Company also shared its vision for the future through generative artificial intelligence. Finally, the Company announced a partnership and new plugin with Microsoft 365 Copilot, Microsoft’s AI offering. Thomson Reuters states, “This integration will bolster efforts for redefined professional work starting with legal research, drafting, and client collaboration.”
The Thomson Reuters announcement comes on the heels of LexisNexis’ recent announcement of its plans in the space. Other legal vendors like Casetext, LiquidText, and others have also jumped in recently.
These announcements—especially by Thomson Reuters and LexisNexis–are a bit unique in the legal marketplace. They are unique in what they are or are not now offering. And they are unique in how they see the implementation of generative AI tools.
But the uniqueness of the LLM tools makes these announcements sound different.
But the uniqueness of the LLM tools makes these announcements sound different. The whole LLM concept seemed to burse on the scent out of nowhere a scant five or so months ago. (Yes, the models existed before then, but the ability of the models to change how we do things was not well known until after November 2022). And the development of the models since then till now has been at 120 mph. Rapid development, exponential improvement, and change are the hallmarks of the models. And we don’t yet know precisely the long-term and short-term impact.
Secondly, how we humans relate to the models is fundamentally
different. Getting to the answer is not a search but a dialogue. It is conversational, much like asking a partner how to approach a legal knot you are trying to unravel. Both these characteristics—rapid and uncharted