In 1997, IBM’s “Deep Blue” beat world champion Garry Kasparov. In 2018, “OpenAI Five,” five separate AI agents working together, beat a team of professional players at the e-sport Dota 2.
In 2021, OpenAI released “DALL-E 2,” an AI-driven image-generation platform. On November 30, 2022, OpenAI released a free research preview of ChatGPT, an interface to its “GPT-4” language model, which allows users to receive answers in text form. ChatGPT also has access to publicly available information, to a cutoff in 2021.
The below quote was generated by ChatGPT, in response to the prompt: “Summarize the biggest changes likely to occur in the legal services industry as a result of artificial intelligence in the next five years. Keep your response under 450 words. Provide sources, omit links.” The article image was generated by DALL-E 2, in response to a prompt suggested by ChatGPT to exemplify the points ChatGPT raised in relation to the future of AI in the legal profession.
“It is difficult to predict with certainty the exact changes that will occur in the legal services industry as a result of artificial intelligence in the next five years, as the rate of technological advancement can be unpredictable. However, here are some changes that may occur, along with sources for further information:
Continued automation of routine tasks: AI is expected to continue automating a number of tasks currently carried out by lawyers and paralegals, such as document review, legal research, and contract analysis. This will enable lawyers to work more efficiently and focus on higher-value tasks that require more complex analysis and judgment. According to a report by Deloitte, the use of AI in the legal industry could lead to a 20-30% reduction in the amount of time that lawyers spend on routine tasks (Deloitte, “Artificial Intelligence in Law”).
Widespread adoption of AI-powereD legal research tools: AI-powered legal research tools are expected to become more prevalent in the coming years, providing lawyers with more accurate and up-to-date information than is currently available through traditional legal research methods. A report by the American Bar Association found that AI-powered legal research tools could significantly reduce the time that lawyers spend on legal research and improve the accuracy and completeness of their research (American Bar Association, “The Future of Law: Artificial Intelligence in the Legal Industry”).
Continued development and use of predictive analytics: AI-powered predictive analytics are expected to be used more widely in the legal industry to predict the outcomes of legal cases based on past precedent and other relevant data. This could help lawyers to better advise their clients on the likelihood of success in a particular case and could also help to reduce the time and cost of legal proceedings. A report by the Rand Corporation found that the use of predictive analytics in the legal industry could lead to more efficient and cost-effective legal proceedings (Rand Corporation, “Predictive Analytics in the Legal Industry”).
Other changes that may occur in the next five years include improved access to legal services through the use of chatbots and virtual assistants, and the need to address ethical concerns related to the use of AI in the legal system. However, it is important to note that these changes are not certain, and the legal industry may evolve in ways that are currently
difficult to predict.”
Though impressive, there are limitations. It took me 11 attempts to get the quote the way I wanted: creating a response to fit into a word count was challenging for ChatGPT, which instead often truncated longer responses. The citations also appear incorrect, but I’m not sure that issue isn’t on my end.
ChatGPT is not a law-specific AI, and yet can return a reasonably good and lightning fast starting point for legal research, even with paragraph citations if you ask.
My prediction: as ChatGPT says, AI-lawyers like DoNoPay’s aren’t replacing us any time soon, but AI-assisted lawyering is just getting started.