ChatGPT: Will it enhance or hinder?
Solicitor, Kamarla Pantry, discusses the impact of ChatGPT and how it could shape the future legal industry.
There’s no doubt about it, that ChatGPT is taking the technology world by storm.
ChatGPT is an AI tool that has the ability to search through information at rapid speed. Think of it as a massive search engine similar to Google. However, instead of typing in a search phrase and being provided with 10+ pages of links, you can put a specific question into ChatGPT and get an instant answer or document.
It can be used to make diet plans, to itineraries, as well as draft letters and CVs.
With such a huge impact, people and companies are starting to introduce it into their daily practices to increase and speed up productivity.
Many firms have introduced chat style bots similar to the likes of ChatGPT to help with things such as legal research or drafting. Magic circle firm Allen & Overy were the first with their AI technology, Harvey.
With instant access to a vast array of information, this would be a helpful addition to law firms. It would help to simplify the labouring task of legal research or draft simple precedents. This would help in terms of cost recovery.
But with all technological innovations in their infancy, there are bound to be teething issues that could hinder its progress. Just recently, a New York lawyer is battling his own court hearing, when a Judge realised that the cases cited from ChatGPT did not in fact exist, calling into question the verification of ChatGPT’s sources.
“The lawyer who used the tool told the court he was “unaware that its content could be false.”
The benefits of AI technology and software such as ChatGPT could be a huge addition to law firms in the future, as it will increase the efficiency of lawyers but with everything in its infancy, there will be caution on relying solely on such a system. This is why it is extremely important to be detail orientated and fact check when reviewing any final drafts.
We are already seeing massive advancements in law moving from paper to online, with the MyHMCTS taking issuing online and e-bundles becoming more common practice in courts.
I wonder what the next innovation for the legal world will be in 5 years’ time?
