The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in legal investigations and compliance is one of the most ground breaking ways in which AI is set to change the way in which lawyers do their work.

AI is your new detective

A fitting example of AI in legal investigation action is a due diligence of a company. Junior lawyers spend hundreds of hours reviewing documents – a task that can be undertaken in minutes by AI. AI technology can review thousands of documents in a short span of time and look for patterns, common provisions, and clauses in contracts which may be problematic. This will free up lawyers’ time to focus on more intellectually satisfying work, lowering costs to the client drastically, and decreasing the turnaround time which is often crucial in major merger deals.

Similarly, AI technology can be used for e-discovery of documents. This process generally requires junior lawyers to sift through thousands of documents and emails to determine those relevant for trial. AI software allowing for a predictive discovery and producing an initial batch of possibly relevant documents would again benefit both the lawyer and the client.

While AI technology can provide significant benefits to those who embrace it, its users should be mindful of its shortcomings. Effective review of work done by AI is required due to risks of algorithm bias, the inability of AI to complete overly broad tasks, and the lack of human judgment.

While law firms around the world have already started using AI, the important question remains: how do we train the next generation of lawyers?

Perhaps someone will develop a machine with the answer.