If a recent Thomson Reuters Report is any indication, lawyers and law firms plan to approach generative AI like they do most technology. Slowly and with skepticism. The Report, entitled, ChatGPT and Generative AI Within Law Firms, came out on April 17, 2023.
Thomson surveyed lawyers in mid-size (30-179 lawyers) to large law firms (more than 180 lawyers). The lawyers were based in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.
There were some 443 respondents: 62% from mid-size firms and 38% from large law firms. The majority of those answering the survey were from the U.S.
Granted, it’s still early for a profession that is notoriously slow in adopting technology and innovating anything. But it’s interesting and even a bit humorous how predictable the responses were. As with the cloud and, before that, email, lawyers look for ways not to use generative AI instead of thinking of the opportunities it holds.
For example, almost 50% of the lawyers surveyed are not sure if generative AI should be used at all. 60% of the lawyers say they have no plans to use it. Only 5% say they are using or are planning to use. (Planning to use to me is a euphemism for no plans to use). 15% of the firms have warned their lawyers against using general AI, and five have banned it outright.
Photo by Colin Davis on Unsplash
In keeping with lawyer arrogance, some 72% of the lawyers surveyed said, oh yes, we can certainly use generative AI for that low-brow nonlegal work. It just can’t be used for us lawyers’ high-level, special snowflake work.
And this is in keeping with their reasons for not using. Lawyers are really concerned about privacy and confidentiality. They are really, really worried about the accuracy of generative AI tools.
