As many of us come off the high of hanging out and talking AI at ILTA, there seems to be a push this week in the articles for AI tools to “show me what you’ve done for me lately?” This makes sense that once you get back to the office and need to show existing return on investment, or to justify potential return on investment, you definitely want to make sure you do not bring in products that will simply be parked on a shelf and remain unused.
Jackie Schafer, CEO of Clearbrief, believes that legal tech buyers are experiencing fatigue because of the overwhelming number of vendors entering the market, often with products that are essentially wrappers on existing technologies like OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Many of these vendors have not invested sufficient thought into the architecture of their products, including how they integrate with essential tools lawyers use or how they meet stringent security and confidentiality requirements. As a result, legal professionals are bombarded with constant marketing and promises, making it difficult for them to discern which products are genuinely effective, secure, and suitable for their specific needs. This leads to a feeling of fatigue as they try to cut through the hype to find reliable solutions. I think she is spot on.
On a personal note, I have been testing out a new method of notetaking this week after hearing one of the reporters on the Hard Fork podcast talk about it. Has anyone tried Zettelkasten? This is a style of note taking, where you essentially write down your notes in your own words as you are doing research, and then use a free program like Obsidian to compile these notes into a single place. I’ve been playing around with it, and reading the book How to take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens this week, and I have found it to be very fascinating. The software allows you to tag, link, and create subjects, which is very appealing to the librarian in me. If you’ve used Zettelkasten note taking before, I’d like to know what you think!
Here’s this week’s edition of What. Just. Happened? Remember, you can track these stories with the AI Lawyer Talking Tech podcast (Spotify or Apple) which covers legal tech news and summarizes stories on a daily basis.
Harvey Launches Legal GenAI Evaluation System: BigLaw Bench
Harvey has released BigLaw Bench, a groundbreaking methodology for assessing the accuracy of legal generative AI tools, evaluating models on real legal tasks. Harvey’s framework sets a benchmark for the industry, providing a transparent and structured evaluation system crucial for the future of legal AI.
Clearbrief CEO Discusses Legal Tech Buyers’ Fatigue Amid AI Surge
Clearbrief’s CEO Jacqueline Schafer discusses the legal industry’s fatigue with unproven generative AI solutions. While legal departments seek AI tools to streamline tasks, they emphasize the need for these technologies to integrate seamlessly with existing processes. This highlights the demand for trusted, proven AI tools in the legal sector.
Lawyers Need a Capitalist Mindset in the Age of AI
As AI transforms legal processes, lawyers must adopt a capitalist mindset, investing in AI-powered solutions to own the means of production. By developing or acquiring legal tech solutions, lawyers can create new revenue streams and stay competitive in an AI-driven legal market.
Revolutionizing Legal AI Benchmarks with “AI Law”
AI Law’s evaluations show that AI models are improving in performing legal tasks, but still have room for growth, especially in high-stakes legal matters. The article emphasizes the potential benefits of AI in improving efficiency, accuracy, and cost-effectiveness in legal services. The composability of AI models allows for AI to assess and improve itself, offering radical advancements that may surpass human capabilities in reasoning and learning over time.
Rise in Legal AI Adoption with Specific Use Cases and Patience
Legal AI tools are being adopted more broadly, though experts urge firms to identify specific use cases and proceed with patience. Automating routine tasks such as document production and compliance is expected to yield significant efficiency gains for law firms.
Generative Search Engines Poised to Revolutionize Legal Research
Generative Search Engines (GSEs) like OpenAI’s SearchGPT are transforming legal research by providing direct answers instead of links. This technology has the potential to significantly reduce the time lawyers spend on research, offering precise and contextual responses.
The hidden costs of AI-powered legaltech: are foundational skills being lost?
While AI automates tedious, low-strategic tasks like document review and contract drafting, it raises concerns about junior lawyers missing out on crucial skill-building opportunities. Although AI enables faster career progression and efficiency, experts argue that relying too heavily on AI could result in a mid-level cohort of lawyers lacking essential experience, calling for a balance between AI adoption and skill acquisition.
ILTA Survey Shows GenAI Usage by Small Law Firms
According to a survey by the International Legal Technology Association, small law firms are increasingly adopting general AI tools like Microsoft Copilot and ChatGPT. These tools are being used for tasks such as business operations, research, and drafting, though widespread adoption across the legal industry remains limited.