AI continues to revolutionize every sector with its unprecedented growth, including lawyers. A new survey found that over a quarter of lawyers are now using generative AI platforms. Let’s find out more insights about this trend!
Highlights:
- Around 26% of legal professionals are now using generative AI tools regularly.
- The main use cases are for document drafting and researching legal matters.
- Some lawyers are still worried about the security concerns of using AI in work.
Number of Lawyers using Generative AI has Doubled
Lawyers are one of the most important professions in the world, where knowing regulations, doing research, finding facts, and data collection play a quite critical role. So, it will be interesting to know how many legal professionals are now using the new Generative AI Tools, such as ChatGPT or Google Gemini. A 2024 survey by LexisNexis shows that the number is quite bigger than most will imagine.
According to a poll conducted by LexisNexis among 1,200 lawyers in the UK, around 26% of them are now using generative AI at least once a month.
The number has doubled compared to the survey conducted only 6 months ago. This clearly shows that a large number of lawyers are now using Artificial Intelligence for their work.
They are using it to make their official documents, e-mail writing, and do research about similar cases. About 90% of lawyers said that they are using generative AI tools for document drafting and researching legal matters, according to the report.
Still, a significant chunk of these new users are from academic institutions and big law firms. These are also training their staff about these tools Around 39% of respondents have said their organization had made a change to their day-to-day operations and to improve their efficiency with generative AI.
The numbers continue to even grow further at the moment, involving several established legal firms and businesses worldwide.
Stuart Greenhill, Director at LexisNexis, said: “The appetite for generative AI technology in the legal sector is unprecedented… However, the demand is for generative AI tools that are grounded and trained on legal sources.” about this new report, via Yahoo.
Security Concerns over AI among Lawyers
This momentous rise is also raising a lot of security concerns in the industry. A lawyer’s job is very critical and there should always be little to no possibility of errors. However, AI is known to have some pitfalls. It might provide outdated or inaccurate information, may have unethical recommendations, and even chances of a secret data leak.
Many lawyers are still hesitant to assign crucial responsibilities to artificial intelligence, especially because of security reasons, “hallucinations” and mistrust of the freely available technology.
This new report also emphasizes this fact, with about 90% of respondents believing there are security concerns about AI in the law profession.
So, it is always recommended to have human oversight over the final data given by the AI. Some firms are also Employing AI specialists, creating guidelines for their applications, and releasing in-house AI-powered products to safeguard themselves from leaks.
For instance, a contract negotiating tool that Allen & Overy unveiled in 2023. These are some of the latest steps taken to harness AI. These small steps although seeming challenging initially will make a big difference in the long run.
Meanwhile, the British government will spend more than £100 million creating artificial intelligence research hubs and getting regulators ready. In its much-awaited answer to a consultation on AI regulation released in March of last year, the government outlined its strategy for regulating the rapidly advancing technology.
Although security worries are legitimate, it’s crucial to take into account the larger picture of AI use in the legal industry. We can promote a more knowledgeable and responsible dialogue regarding artificial intelligence (AI) in the legal sector by comprehending the issues, looking into prospective solutions, and going over the advantages and difficulties.
Conclusion
We must remember that while there are so many new AI users among lawyers, this is in a very nascent stage. It’s possible that a sizable portion of them still do not use generative AI only a few times a month but daily. Legal Departments across the world are also looking to make investments in improving the reliability of content generated and information sources surrounding the work matter.
