Our recent report, Lawyers cross into the new era of generative AI, shows a significant and growing appetite for generative artificial intelligence (AI) in the UK, with more than a quarter (26%) of respondents using generative tools at least once a month. This figure has more than doubled from a comparable survey from July 2023. Our report also showed that almost two-thirds of lawyers felt increasingly confident using AI platforms grounded on legal research.
We're witnessing a tidal change in the perception and adoption of generative AI. It's clear while many still appreciate potential risks, general aversion to AI seems to have dissolved, paving the way for lawyers to reap the benefits.
In this article, we look at how attitudes in this sector are changing and discuss how the legal sector is exploring, onboarding, and utilising this rapidly evolving tech.
Lawyers from small and large firms, legal academies and in-house counsel, solicitors and barristers — all of them, across the sector, are embracing the power of generative AI. They've noticed the time- and cost-saving potential. In the past six months alone, adoption rates have more than doubled.
The latter half of 2023 saw AI transition from theory to practice. The tech transitioned from a talking point to an action point. In our report from July 2023 slightly more than one in ten respondents used generative AI monthly, compared to our January 2024 report, Lawyers cross into the new era of generative AI, where the same number (11%) are now using generative AI weekly, with a much higher number (26%) using it monthly. Academic institutions and large firms are proving to be the most common users, at 33% and 32% respectively.
The current usage shows a sharp upward trend, and based on findings from our report, this doesn't look set to slow down. A significant number of lawyers revealed plans to use generative AI tools in the future: 35% of lawyers alluded to future plans. In-house lawyers demonstrated a particularly strong appetite: 42% suggested they planned to incorporate AI in their legal work.
This represents a substantial shift, and in a risk-averse profession, with a stubbornly conservative culture, this is incredibly surprisingly. The allure of AI is overwhelming and the benefits irresistible. And such benefits have received extensive attention. Generative AI was the tech talking point of 2023, dominating conversations, panels, webinars, podcasts, news articles, and so on.
The benefits of generative AI have been widely touted, the virtues amplified, and the use cases promoted. So lawyers are using AI in various interesting ways. The main priorities for generative AI, as cited in our report, are document drafting (91%) and researching legal matters (90%). Other use cases were referenced, some of which seem quite surprising and interesting, such as real-time comparisons of law across jurisdictions (47%) and data room analysis for M&A (21%).
Law firms are integrating the tech, too. More than 39% said their organisation had made a change to their day-to-day operations due to generative AI. Changes included AI-powered products for internal use (15%), carrying our AI-related training for staff (11%) and developing effective policies on the use of generative AI (11%). Large-sized firms were the most likely to have made some sort of change, with 62% of respondents revealing their firm had made some sort of change.
Discover Lexis+ AI Insiders. AI has arrived and the landscape is changing. Stay ahead of the curve. Become an AI Insider today.
Certain generative AI platforms are opaque, trained on insufficient inputs, and lacking human oversight, which results in inaccurate, unethical, and poor-quality outputs. The worst platforms produce bias, leak confidential information, generate hallucinations, and rely on outdated information. As mentioned, the benefits of generative AI are well-known, but the risks are well-known, too.
Lawyers cited content hallucinations, security issues, and the tech not being trustworthy enough as major hurdles to AI adoption. Only 10% of respondents to our report said they had no concerns using generative AI. Most (59%) admitted some concerns, while just under a third revealed significant (26%) or fundamental (6%). This is almost identical to findings from our July 2023 report.
But there seems to have been a shift in attitude, or perhaps awareness. Respondents seem to understand that risks are not dependent on the tech, but rather the platform. Platforms that depend on transparent and trustworthy legal content sources, practice effective human oversight, and demonstrate awareness of real-world impacts minimise, and in some cases eliminate the above concerns.
Our report shows 65% of respondents said they would be somewhat or completely confident using legal AI tools grounded on legal content sources, with linked citations to the underlying source content. Those from medium- and large-sized firms were most comfortable using a tool grounded on legal research, such as Lexis+ AI.
Generative AI, when platforms generate information irresponsibly, can cause huge legal, ethical, and commercial issues. But using platforms that safeguard against unreliable inputs, that boast human oversight and practice real-world awareness, allows lawyers to maximise potential, with ease, efficiency, and confidence. In 2024, as shown in our report, AI will become commonplace. Lawyers of the future will gain a competitive advantage by using the tech effectively, efficiently, and ethically.
Download the report, Lawyers cross into the new era of generative AI, now and discover our full findings.
* denotes a required field
0330 161 1234