Legal AI
Throwback Thursday: What legal AI can learn from previous decades
By examining the past, we can better understand the present and future. Innovations since the 1980s are able to tell us how to navigate artificial intelligence in the legal industry.
Every decade witnesses breakthrough technologies that leave a lasting impact. While there is no universal formula for success, there is always something to be learned in hindsight. Therefore, to implement legal AI effectively, it’s essential to reflect on past breakthroughs and their unique attributes. As Mark Twain once said, ‘History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.’
The 1980s: think beyond the obvious use cases
In the 1980s, the personal computer broke through. In its early years, no one was quite sure what people would do with “a big calculator at home”. Forty years later, we use our PCs to watch movies, book plane tickets, play games, or make new friends, among other things. When we talk about the future of AI, we need to start thinking beyond the obvious use cases.
By now, we all realize that one of the typical AI use cases is predicting the next word in a sentence. The technology can understand commands and recognize objects. More importantly, it can make connections. AI can perform many calculations quickly, especially when combined with powerful quantum computers.
At that point, AI will cause significant changes. For example, what would happen if it helped transactional lawyers by quickly analyzing complex contracts and using AI-based insights to support the drafting experience, ensuring all parties are treated fairly?
However, it’s important not to implement AI just for the sake of AI. Peter Geovanes, Chief Innovation & AI Officer at McGuireWoods LLP, points out in our Legal AI Strategies report and webinar, ‘A poor AI strategy might focus solely on technological adoption without considering the broader implications, neglecting the importance of comprehensive training, cross-practice area collaboration, and ethical considerations. This can lead to inefficiencies, increased risks, and missed opportunities for genuine innovation and competitive differentiation.’
The 1990s: the power of connectivity
Ten years later, the era of the Internet dawned. The World Wide Web showed us that added value often lies in connection. That connection includes interactions between people, between humans and machines, or between machines themselves. What do we want AI to connect to?
By unleashing algorithms on data (read: “Data strategies for legal teams”) in our DMS and evaluating the contract lifecycle, we can quickly find links between information currently in separate silos. For example, you could recognize patterns in clauses and link them to certain types of customers.
That’s why Gina Lynch, Chief Knowledge and Innovation Officer at Paul Weiss, emphasized in our Implementation & Adoption of Legal Tech report that lawyers need to let their data refine an adoption strategy. ‘Before you unveil your new product, craft a comprehensive game plan to track usage. You want to be the fly on the wall tracking every type of interaction with the tool, whether it is content creation, database searches or data edits. The more granular your data, the less chance of ambiguity as to how the tool is being used.’
The 2000s: long live the ecosystem
When Steve Jobs announced the iPhone at the beginning of the new millennium, it took a while for the smartphone to break through. It was not the device itself that sparked revolutions but the marketplace built on it. Similarly, artificial intelligence will be successful thanks to user-friendly applications like Henchman, which solve specific problems.
Industry leaders are already doing everything they can to create the decisive ecosystem. For instance, Microsoft dedicated considerable time during the Build conference to its plugins and Copilots. It is no coincidence that Microsoft recently teamed up with Henchman and iManage to host a webinar on Copilot’s potential in the legal sector, addressing how legal professionals can tap into their collective knowledge with the help of AI.
The 2010s: one innovation to rule them all?
Looking back at the last decade, we can safely describe it as the era of cloud computing. Yet that, too, has unfolded differently than anticipated. At the beginning of the decade, gurus predicted that we would store everything in the cloud. However, we soon learned that on-premise storage is still better than cloud storage in some cases. This realization underscores that even for AI, we need to think carefully about when to deploy the technology and when not to.
There is no one-size-fits-all AI strategy, so you’ll need clear KPIs to define yours. The search for the best solution in each situation must continue. After all, it’s important that the introduction of AI has a positive impact on every stakeholder involved. , Head of Legal Tech and Knowledge Management at , highlights in our report: ‘When it comes to AI in the legal sector, the very human aspect of trust should also be addressed. This includes trust in technology from an information security and regulatory standpoint, building trust with lawyers using AI, and knowing when to trust AI outputs. Too often, vendors overpromise on a tool’s capabilities, while lawyers may be overly cautious or risk-averse to adopt new tools.’
2024 and beyond
In conclusion, anyone who aims to develop a sustainable AI strategy can learn from the past. It is essential to think beyond obvious use cases and look for connections, avoiding siloed data. While the power lies primarily in an ecosystem of applications, you have to remember that technology itself is not a holy grail. Commit to a culture change and develop a legal AI strategy tailored to your business. We help you get started with tips from experts in our!