When the most imaginative people think of artificial intelligence (AI), they picture the technology bootstrapping itself in an “infinite, accelerating cascade,” as writer Kevin Kelly describes the AI evolution. Some imagine that, over time, AI-powered computers will become so smart that they will solve all our problems (but not to the point of rendering us, fleshy formed humans, totally obsolete!). However, a more benign singularity is the more likely future scenario. Machines and people will move together toward an increasing interdependence — a technological shift, which quite clearly is underway.
“We are marching inexorably toward firmly connecting all humans and all machines into a global matrix,” Kelly explains in his 2017 book, The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future. “This matrix is not an artifact, but a process. Our new ‘supernetwork’ is a standing wave of change that steadily spills forward new arrangements of our needs and desires.”
It really comes down to the rehumanization of work, particularly the legal variety. What AI does is change the very nature of human and machine interactions, increasing productivity and effectiveness, as well as overall wellbeing. It also allows general counsels (GCs) and other legal professionals to spend time on creative and strategic endeavors. Think higher-value work, like the counseling and advising on risk, and the navigation of complex problems, not to mention the learning of new concepts and skills.
In other words, the most powerful AI tools around allow lawyers to function far less like machines, themselves, and focus much more on ‘human’-centered activities. We’ll delve more into all of this below.
No, Robots Cannot Be Lawyers
A decade ago, a March 14 New York Times headline cheekily read: “Armies of Expensive Lawyers, Replaced by Cheaper Software.” The newspaper reported that by identifying relevant words and phrases, for instance, computers are going to displace those in this white-collar occupation — at least so far as discovery in litigation was concerned. That hasn’t happened, of course, although conducting discovery is quicker than ever. Instead, human lawyers determine what to search for in massive amounts of data, before reviewing the output that e-discovery platforms and software produce.
But although advanced legal technology isn’t displacing lawyers precisely like this, it’s certainly changing the way the legal profession is practiced. In their 2015 paper, “Can Robots Be Lawyers? Computers, Lawyers, and the Practice of Law,” Dana Remus and Frank Levy argue that the only way to better understand and accurately evaluate the consequences of legal tech is to “engage with the ways in which computers perform various lawyering tasks differently than humans.” Some of those differences will be remarkably beneficial, they write, like increasing accuracy and eliminating errors. That leaves the all-too-important role of interpreting data and formulating advice, and leading interpersonal interactions — in the case of in-house corporate counsel — to us, humans.
“Technology has affected lawyers’ interactions in ways that allow for the automation of some of these tasks,” Remus and Levy write. “The vast majority of a lawyer’s personal interactions, however, continue to require spontaneity, unstructured communication, and emotional intelligence.” (Indeed, many law schools are even beginning to offer classes and clinics on technological innovation, client relations — and even communication for lawyers!)
The manner in which computers perform tasks differently than humans do is key to the inquiries by Remus and Levy. They ask us to consider not only how these differences might change the practice of law, but also how we — as lawyers, technologists, and a society — will approach the norms and rules that will govern our approach to advances in technology.
The Data Doesn’t Lie
It’s also important to keep in mind that AI is merely a component of a much larger system, and the latter needs to be created, implemented, and operated by humans in the first place (that, too, should alleviate concerns that AI is replacing us!). In fact, since its inaugural report on the topic in 2017, Gartner has consistently predicted that advances in technology will result in the creation of many more functions and roles. That statement is even backed by the World Economic Forum, which — not counting the other jobs that AI will help produce — estimates that 97 million people will be needed for AI-associated jobs by 2025.
That’s because many companies now realize that the actual benefit of AI is not automating workers out of their respective positions. The true value of AI is instead enhancing employees’ skills, while freeing up workers to do more significant tasks, as mentioned above. As Brian Cantwell Smith, a well-known cognitive science researcher and philosopher, reassures us, we can absolutely use AI tools to “shoulder the reckoning tasks at which they excel (like analyzing billions of data points!), and not for other tasks beyond (AI’s) capacity.”
Relationships Are Programmable, Too
Here’s another important concept to remember: part of an attorney’s job is to “program” the relationships between all involved parties (in that way, those relationships are no different than contract management systems!). Through the wording of contracts, which are really coding in the legal sense, we define rules and guidelines, and build an entire system in which parties work together.
In other words, lawyers write code for the way humans interact with one another in the professional context. How humans look at the issues they’re facing, and determine the best way forward for the most people possible. How they then come up with — and execute — rather specific solutions.
‘(AI) of the Tiger’
When it comes to performing legal functions in the age of AI, then, at least one thing is clear. Even if AI never fully matches human thinking, those repetitive, lower-value tasks — traditionally performed by human beings — will be automated by AI technology. And this will provide unprecedented opportunities for GCs and other legal professionals.
So, “this is not a race against the machines,” as Kevin Kelly concludes in his book, The Inevitable. This is a “race with the machines.” After all, much of what’s completed in this sprint will not be possible without them in the future. In fact, we’ll continue to see work that is too time-consuming or resembles drudgery — work no one really wants to do when they wake up in the morning — will be handed over to artificial intelligence. The latter will do the jobs we have been doing — but do them much better — and those we cannot do at all. It will do jobs we never imagined even needed to be done.
Above all else, though, AI will allow us to perform those creative and strategic legal functions. Those that expand who we are, as lawyers. Those that allow us to become more ‘human’ — in our roles — than we ever have been before.
Jerry Levine is the Chief Evangelist and General Counsel at ContractPodAi. He uses his experience to support ContractPodAi’s continued product and delivery innovation in legal technology and digital transformation.
