'AI is the future of the law. It can help us to solve some of the biggest legal challenges of our time' - Mark A Cohen, founder of legal mosaic

The legal profession has always been one part of that high degree of skill, expertise and attention to detail. However, with the rise of AI technology, many legal professionals are wondering what the future holds. Will AI have a radical impact on the legal profession? In this article, we will explore how AI is already changing the legal landscape and consider what the future might hold for lawyers, judges and other legal professionals

Unpacking The Word 'Ai'

In non- professional terms, AI stands for artificial intelligence. It's a type of technology that can perform tasks that would typically require human intelligence such as learning, problem-solving and decision-making. The term AI was first used in 1956 by computer scientist John McCarthy but it had gained so much popularity today due to advances in almost every field. Summarising it, the AI revolution is aimed at the automation of mental tasks. India had made a kickstart in the area of legal AI with some encouraging initiatives already in usage and others are being worked upon by the researchers.

Will Ai Replace Human Lawyers

That's a very obvious question as the first thing that comes to our minds is what will be the outcome when the legal system is fully developed with AI technology. Doctors have faced the same problem; people google their disease and they are up with the treatment or cure but Google cannot tell what is the core issue of your disease.

Doctors can understand the causes of that disease and give you a one-stop solution same as with lawyers also a good lawyer will take time to understand your reason for seeking help. Although AI has been widely in use and time-saving it has some disrupting effects also. According to the recent report of the WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM'S FUTURE OF JOBS by 2025 85 million jobs are to be expected to be replaced by AI.

Prof. Legg and Dr Felicity Bell's book 'Artificial Intelligence and the Legal Profession', wrote that lawyers' ethical values are seen as a point of difference compared to an AI legal product or service without a lawyer. This means the lawyer must act in best interest of the client and should be competent. lawyers have an ethical responsibility towards the family and society. We cannot deny the fact that AI would not impact some elements of lawyering. The tasks performed by the lawyers involve strategic thinking and due diligence which no machine can ever perform.

Leibniz who was a lawyer said 'It is unworthy of excellent men to lose hours like slaves in the labour of calculation which could safely be relegated to anyone else if machines were used what. For a human lawyer, it takes months to do the research work on the other side AI can do it in seconds, it does not get exhausted and it does not need tea coffee or other beverages to be awakened.

In the daily legal risk assessment task, the highest performance among human lawyers was 94%, and the average performance was 85%, while the average success rate of AI was 94%. No doubt AI will be able to do the work in seconds but it cannot wholly replace human lawyers as some works require high logical thinking and emotional understanding of some cases but fact on the one hand AI will relieve the lawyers from their hectic working schedule.

Remarkable Implementation Of AI

How AI is being used to improve access to legal justice? This question often arises whenever we relate AI to the legal field. Here are some of the following notable applications of AI in India.

Here are some ways AI is already impacting the legal field.

1. Supace
   The artificial intelligence portal SUPACE which stands for Supreme Court for Assistance in court efficiency was launched by CJI SA Bobde and it aimed at enhancing the productivity of the judges in India as well as reducing the pendency of cases in India. SUPACE is an AI-enabled tool aimed at reducing the workload of judges, reading case files, and other documents.
    
2. Suvas
   It stands for Supreme Court Vidhik and software is being used to translate the Supreme Court judgment into vernacular languages. The Supreme Court has started translating the daily orders into 9 different languages: Assamese, Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Odiya, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu.
    
3. Document Review
   One of the main ways AI is being used in the legal profession is in document review. With the help of machine learning algorithms, AI can quickly and accurately review large volumes of documents such as contracts to identify key information and potential issues. This saves lawyers a significant amount of time and allows them to focus on more complex legal issues.
    
4. Legal Chabots
   AI-powered chatbots are increasingly in use. They help to solve legal queries from basic to complicated ones, and answers are provided within seconds. This also means it is time-saving. These tools are a boon for persons with limited resources and are cost-effective.

According to a CBRE survey revealed 61% of the companies are using AI to generate and review legal documents, 47% are using it for due diligence purposes and 42% are using it for research.

Criticisms Of Ai In The Legal Profession
AI has become an increasingly popular tool in the legal industry but it is not without its flaws. some people worry that AI might be biased or that it might not be able to understand the edges of the law. Some people worry that AI can replace human lawyers which could be harmful to the legal industry. For example, an AI system might not be able to understand the difference between the legal principle and legal precedent.

The legal industry is a complex field that requires human judgement and expertise. AI might be able to help lawyers work but it is unlikely that it will be able to replace them correctly. Among all the aforesaid uses of AI in the legal field some questions remain the core issue of using AI in the legal field which are as follows

1. What is the legal personality of AI? Will AI be recognized as legal persons like lawyers?
2. Who will be responsible if any loss occurs? Which liability will apply in such a scenario?
3. Whether a person who avails such services will be termed as a consumer under the Consumer Protection Act 2019?

Hence the issues surrounding AI seem to be endless. Overall AI can be a valuable tool in the legal industry but it's important to be attentive while using it more effectively. AI might be biased completely as it will not be able to understand the roots of the law but when used correctly, AI can be a precious tool that can increase the lawyer's work more effectively.

AI's Impact On The Legal Profession
The use of AI in the legal field is growing increasingly and its become crucial to understand the potential impact of AI on the legal job market. According to a recent report by McKinsey, up to 23% of a lawyer's work can be automated using current technology. This could lead to the loss of legal jobs to a great extent that requires high-level skills.

Apart from the above-discussed examples of how AI is changing the legal industry, one is a document review and categorising documents much faster and more accurately than humans. One study found that an AI system was enabled to review contracts with 94% accuracy, compared to 85% for human lawyers. This could lead to a reduction in demand for lawyers to perform document review tasks but it could also create new jobs for lawyers who can use AI to analyse and interpret data.

how can AI change the legal research of the legal industry? AI-powered tools can quickly search for vast amounts of data to find relevant cases and issues. One study found that an AI system was able to predict the outcome of cases with 79% accuracy, compared to 70% for human lawyers. Despite these potential benefits, there are concerns about job losses. AI is set to have a major impact I n the legal industry in the coming years, while there are possibilities for young lawyers to adapt to the new technology henceforth new legal jobs could be created.

Final Thoughts
In summary, the impact of AI on the legal profession is likely to be intense and extensive. As AI continues to improve, it will increasingly be capable of handling complex legal tasks soon while some working on it today this raises some complicated issues about job displacement and the potential for biases. Overall the legal profession needs to adapt and evolve in the coming years to keep pace with rapid changes brought about by AI technology

References:

• https://legal.thomsonreuters.com/en/insights/articles/ai-and-its-impact-on-legal-technology
• https://indiaai.gov.in/article/five-notable-applications-of-legal-ai-in-india
• https://businesslawtoday.org/2022/02/how-ai-is-reshaping-legal-profession/
• https://blog.ipleaders.in/artificial-intelligence-and-the-indian-legal-system/
• https://www.barandbench.com/columns/artificial-intelligence-and-legal-profession-an-intelligent-way-ahead
• https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/transforming-the-legal-profession-the-impact-and-challenges-of-artificial-intelligence/

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