THE advent of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has revolutionised various sectors, and the legal profession is no exception. AI has the potential to significantly streamline legal work, reduce time-consuming manual tasks, and enhance the efficiency of legal processes. Rather than be intimidated by the technology, the better challenge for lawyers is how we can best harness AI to optimise legal work.

All lawyers, from in-house counsel and law firms to advocates and judges, need to embrace the use of AI even as it becomes an indispensable productivity tool across the legal profession. Goldman Sachs estimates that 44 per cent of current legal work tasks could be automated by AI, compared with an average of 25 per cent across all industries. This doesn’t mean that generative AI heralds the demise of the profession; rather, those who do not use AI will be displaced by those that do.

Put another way, those who do use AI may be doing legal work in a way not done today, which brings a transformative opportunity that allows them to forge ahead of the competition. This would be much like lawyers from the past who mastered the skill of word processing by using a desktop or laptop, instead of relying on someone else to type all their memos, opinions and agreements.