Lawyers Need To Better Understand Perils Of AI, Paper Argues, Matt Perez, April 5, 2024.
The article discusses a research paper by Eliza Mik, a law professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, which cautions legal professionals about the limitations of large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT in legal practice. Mik argues that LLMs simply replicate legal language and lack actual reasoning abilities, common sense, and a true understanding of language and concepts. The paper highlights instances where LLMs have generated absurd or "hallucinated" arguments, leading to reprimands from judges. While Mik acknowledges the potential benefits of LLMs in legal research, text analysis, and judgment prediction, she emphasizes the need for enhancements, such as connecting to reliable knowledge bases and reinforcement learning from human feedback. However, she warns against overestimating LLMs' capabilities and relying on them for high-risk legal advice, particularly for disadvantaged groups, as it could lead to legal ramifications.
Customizing AI To Specific Legal Practice Areas, Above the Law, Olga V. Mack, January 24, 2024
The article discusses the evolving role of AI in legal practices, emphasizing the need for customization in various legal fields such as corporate law, intellectual property, and criminal defense. It highlights that AI can offer significant support in case management, research, analytics, and document review tasks by being tailored to the unique challenges of different legal areas. The integration of AI into legal practices involves collaboration with AI developers and data scientists to create models trained on relevant data like case law, statutes, and contracts. This results in AI systems capable of providing precise, data-driven insights specific to practice areas, identifying patterns and trends difficult for humans to discern. Ethical considerations are paramount, especially to avoid perpetuating biases present in past decisions. The article stresses that the adoption of AI in law is an ongoing, iterative process requiring due diligence and commitment to fairness. Continuous evaluation and feedback are necessary to ensure AI's relevance and ethical use. This approach can lead to more efficient resource allocation, improved client service, and a competitive edge in a challenging market.
Legal ops co-founders discuss 'the value of running legal like a business', ABA Journal, July 24, 2023
A discussion of the transformation of legal operations through technology and innovation. It highlights how law firms and legal departments are redefining their processes to become more efficient and client-centric. By embracing automation, data analytics, and project management tools, legal professionals can streamline workflows, enhance collaboration, and optimize resource allocation. It is emphasized that this shift is not about replacing lawyers but empowering them with technology to deliver better value and service to clients. Ultimately, redefining legal operations allows firms to stay competitive, adapt to changing demands, and drive success in the legal industry.
Corporate Attorneys Don’t Want to Pay Law Firms for ChatGPT When They Could Use it Themselves, Reuters, Zach Warren, June 30, 2023
A recent Thomson Reuters Institute survey reveals over 80% of corporate law departments and law firms see a role for generative AI in legal work. However, opinions diverge when it comes to implementing this technology, with concerns over accuracy, privacy, and costs being central. While 44% of corporate legal departments favor their law firms utilizing generative AI, 23% oppose it, mainly to avoid paying for unverified advice possibly generated by AI. Despite the hesitation, the exploration of generative AI's vast potential use-cases in tasks like legal research and contract drafting persists. The dialogue between law firms and clients on formalizing generative AI usage could bridge the existing uncertainty and align technology adoption with evolving legal practice needs.
AI Tools for Lawyers: A Practical Guide, Minnesota Law Review, June 23, 2023
The article offers lawyers and law students practical advice on utilizing advanced AI language models for legal research and writing. It highlights GPT-4's prominence and suggests that legal professionals can enhance AI-generated legal analyses using traditional skills. This approach transforms freely accessible AI models into valuable personal legal assistants, increasing productivity in the field.
AI Seen As An Integral Collaborative Tool, Not Research, Law360, May 10, 2023
Artificial intelligence (AI) can be a transformative tool for law firms, but it should be approached as a collaborative tool rather than a solution in itself, according to experts speaking in a webinar hosted by legal tech company Clio. The experts emphasized the need for informative prompts when using AI services like ChatGPT, highlighting its effectiveness in completing tasks such as brainstorming, summarizing passages, checking grammar, and language translation. They cautioned against relying on generative AI programs as research tools and emphasized the importance of reviewing and adding personal input to the output generated by AI. Best practices for using chatbots were also discussed, including crafting incisive prompts and probing further into AI responses. The experts highlighted the benefits of specificity and creativity in prompts to enhance the quality of AI-generated answers. However, they also warned about the use of private data in public AI services and emphasized the need for caution and data privacy. Law firms and software companies are increasingly exploring and adopting AI services, recognizing their potential to streamline tasks and improve efficiency.
Lawyers Breathe A Sigh Of Relief: They Can Turn Off Chat History For ChatGPT, Above the Law, May 2, 2023
According to the article, for lawyers, the new option to turn off chat history in ChatGPT is a significant development because it allows lawyers to use ChatGPT without worrying about their confidential data being saved or used to improve the program.
Does ChatGPT Produce Fishy Briefs?, ABA Journal, February 21, 2023
This article examines the quality and reliability of ChatGPT-generated briefs and memos. It argues that while ChatGPT can produce coherent and persuasive texts, it can also make factual errors, logical fallacies and ethical violations. It advises lawyers to use ChatGPT with caution and supervision.
Seven Legal Players That Are Already Harnessing GPT-3.5 Technology, Legaltech News, February 21, 2023
This article showcases seven legal companies that are using GPT-3.5, a powerful natural language processing tool, to automate various tasks such as contract analysis, document generation, due diligence and legal research. The article also discusses the benefits and challenges of using GPT-3.5 in the legal domain.
Meet Harvey, BigLaw Firm's Artificial Intelligence Platform Based on ChatGPT, ABA Journal, February 17, 2023
This article introduces Harvey, an AI platform based on ChatGPT that was adopted by Allen & Overy to help its lawyers generate and access legal content. The article explains how Harvey can assist with tasks such as contract analysis, due diligence and litigation. The article also quotes some lawyers who praise Harvey for its speed, accuracy and versatility.
ChatGPT Is Scarily Good at Answering Legal Questions, Above the Law, February 15, 2023
This article reviews ChatGPT’s performance on answering legal questions from various sources. It praises ChatGPT’s ability to generate relevant and accurate answers, but also points out some limitations and flaws. It suggests that ChatGPT could be a useful tool for lawyers and law students, but not a replacement.
As More Law Firms Leverage ChatGPT, Few Have Internal Policies Regarding Its Use, Legaltech News, February 15, 2023
This article reports on a survey conducted by Thomson Reuters and Georgetown Law that found that only 16% of law firms have internal policies or guidelines for using ChatGPT or other AI tools. The article warns that the lack of policies may expose law firms to ethical and legal risks such as confidentiality breaches, malpractice claims and unauthorized practice of law.
It Can Do 'Real Freaking Work': Could Lawyers be Replaced by ChatGPT?, Law.com, February 9, 2023
This article discusses the potential impact of ChatGPT, an AI chatbot based on GPT-3.5, on the legal profession. It quotes some experts who believe that ChatGPT could be a valuable tool for lawyers, but also raises some concerns about the ethical, legal and social implications of using it.
ChatGPT Has Pretty Depressing Thoughts About Biglaw And The Billable Hour, Above the Law, January 27, 2023
This article presents a poem written by ChatGPT about the Biglaw experience and the billable hour. The poem expresses a sense of frustration, boredom and despair about working long hours for demanding clients and partners. The article suggests that ChatGPT may empathize with associates who are unhappy with their jobs.
ChatGPT: A Revolution for Legal AI?, Northwestern Engineering, January 2023 (YouTube)
This video is a recording of a panel discussion hosted by the Northwestern Law and Technology Initiative on January 10, 2023. The panelists are experts from academia, industry and law who share their perspectives on ChatGPT, an AI chatbot based on GPT-3.5. They talk about the potential applications and challenges of ChatGPT for legal tasks such as research, drafting, analysis and advice. They also discuss the ethical, social and regulatory implications of using ChatGPT in law
ChatGPT Is Impressive, But Can (and Should) It Be Used in Legal?, Legaltech News, December 15, 2022
This article explores the possibilities and challenges of using ChatGPT, an AI chatbot based on GPT-3.5, in the legal industry. It highlights some examples of how ChatGPT has been used for research, drafting and education purposes, but also warns about the ethical, legal and technical risks involved.