In this ‘new age’, technology has taken over almost every profession, thereby gradually leading to a reduction in the need of manpower. While the same future is being predicted for the various fields of law, different studies have proved otherwise.
A recent study has stated that even though Artificial Intelligence may enter the legal profession, there cannot be any scenario where it will completely rule out the need for human professionals. Technology might increase the growth and efficiency by increasing the accuracy of the work, it cannot however, automate the legal profession in its entirety.
A study by the the McKinsey Global Institute has found that while nearly half of all tasks could be automated with current technology, only 5% of jobs could be entirely automated, estimating that 23% of a lawyer’s job can be automated. Technology will transform multiple aspects of legal work, but legal experts predict highly paid lawyers will spend their time on the top rungs of the “legal ladder,” working on tasks with higher-level cognitive demands; non-lawyers or technology will perform the more routine legal services.
It has been observed that with the advent of technology, competition is likely to become more fierce and the clients are likely to pressurize different firms to adapt to these methods and therefore it is a necessity for the lawyers to embrace the perks of Artificial Intelligence and its ability to build a different culture.
However, this dependency cannot be said to lead to a doom for the legal professionals. The advent of the AI and other technological software may prove to be a boon, rather than a bane, as they may increase the value of the human judgment. In such a case, the lawyers will be able to provide real time insights and the value of their work would grow, judging the fact that it cannot be replicated by the AI.
Even though the technological software may transform the legal profession to great lengths, it cannot possibly prove the professional judgment and expertise to be absurd.