Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been making inroads across various sectors and industries, and it is no stranger to the field of law. Although one might expect significant advancements in the quality of legal work due to AI integration, recent research suggests that the benefits are more pronounced in terms of efficiency.
According to a study conducted by Daniel Schwarcz, a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School, the utilization of AI tools like ChatGPT can lead to “consistent and significant improvements in the speed” of legal work, in some cases boosting efficiency by as much as 32%. The findings revealed that while AI did not necessarily hamper the quality of the work, it did not consistently improve it either. The speed of students’ work, however, underwent a noticeable enhancement when AI was deployed. These insights prompt us to reevaluate the future of the billable hour in law practices, considering the dramatic assistance AI can offer in expediting processes.
The research emphasized the potential transformation AI could bring about in routine legal tasks. Schwarcz stated that AI provided students with a substantial speed advantage in handling common legal operations. It is crucial to note that these benefits mostly pertain to the speed and efficiency of task completion, rather than the quality or intricacy of the work.
AI’s efficiency-enhancing attribute can change the landscape of billing in legal procedures, as most firms traditionally rely on the billable hour model. With faster task completion, the conventional billable hour may need to be reimagined or adjusted to reflect this improved efficiency.
However, the study did not observe universal improvements in work quality due to AI support. The effects were instead variable, suggesting that while AI tools can offer supportive benefit in certain fields of legal work, its benefits are not unanimous across all tasks.
The full text of the research study can be accessed here.
To learn more about the research and its implications, visit the full article on Bloomberg Law here.