Artificial intelligence in the legal industry: The technological revolution
The legal industry is all set for another revolution by the introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems. Indian firms have started investing heavily in AI systems.
Undoubtedly, the legal profession is going through a technological revolution. From online legal research platforms to customised apps facilitating general tasks, the legal domain has come a long way from the tradition-bound and labour-heavy legal industry. The legal industry is all set for another revolution by the introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems. Indian firms have started investing heavily in AI systems. But the mere concept of Artificial Intelligence baffles the majority.
AI refers to the technological systems which have the ability to perform such tasks which ordinarily require human intelligence. It doesn’t change the way the legal system functions but allows the lawyers to focus on technical work like drafting contracts and advising clients rather than doing manual, clerical tasks. AI technology replaces the non-billable tasks with processes like due diligence, research, updates, tracking of developments, basic documentation, documentation /contract review.
Additionally, Artificial Intelligence can reduce the work time of a task from 3 hours to 3 minutes. The number of redundant tasks that can be done away with AI and the increase in efficiency and customer services is unimaginable. AI can also hugely impact the legal retail market by providing greater reach and lowering legal costs by facilitating global access and cross-border negotiations and contracts.
Some of the most popular AI systems are ‘ROSS Intelligence’ and ‘Applied Cognitive Engine (ACE)’ or ‘LONald’. It is often argued that with AI performing legal tasks, the ‘robo-lawyers’ would soon replace the legal professionals. However, AI can never fully capture the complex nature of human disputes and transactions. It is not designed to replace lawyers but to assist and allow the lawyers to spend less time on clerical or manual work and spend more time advising clients.
In terms of technological advancement, our legal industry is running 10-15 years behind other industries. Though it sounds unfamiliar and daunting in the contemporary times, AI is set to become the ‘new normal’ in the Indian legal sector.
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