We regularly hear concerns about the ability of Generative AI to provide the kind of quality that clients expect from their lawyers, and about whether lawyers will be “replaced” by technology. We think both of these concerns are frequently overstated, and distract lawyers from the very timely opportunity to shape AI and the powerful adaptations and applications it will inspire.

Quality of the Work. The tendency of Generative AI to deliver off-the-wall “hallucinations” is surely unsettling. But future iterations and upgrades will crack that problem. One of the strengths of Generative AI is its ability to train and improve through a combination of advanced algorithms and refining and curating the dataset on which those algorithms are focused. It would be a mistake to render today a final verdict on the pitfalls of this technology before there has been even one full cycle of innovation and improvement. The history of technological advance is full of examples of rapid improvement in usefulness and reliability, and new technologies have repeatedly been changed and improved through their exposure to human ingenuity. Thomas Edison thought the phonograph would be principally used for recording wills – he never saw the opportunity for a popular culture built on recorded music. Pharmaceuticals developed for one purpose are sometimes found to have secondary applications and unexpectedly save and improve countless lives.