A recent survey by LexisNexis indicates that 90% of legal executives at major law firms and Fortune 1000 companies expect their investment in Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) technologies to increase over the next five years. Nearly half (53%) of Law360® Leaderboard Pulse firms have already adopted Gen AI tools, which underscores the rapidly growing influence of AI in the legal domain.
Commercially available Legal AI tools have emerged over the past year, compelling many legal professionals to explore these technologies while being mindful of potential risks. A detailed buyer’s guide has been published to assist law firms and in-house legal departments in selecting appropriate Gen AI solutions. Law professionals are encouraged to understand that not all Gen AI models are created equal, a notion substantiated by differences in Large Language Models (LLMs).
LLMs are AI tools that replicate human intelligence by training on vast amounts of data. Their capabilities vary significantly, influenced by factors such as architecture, size, training data, and fine-tuning. For instance, models trained on legal-specific data perform differently compared to those trained on general-purpose text. Transparency is another consideration, especially when comparing open-source and proprietary LLMs.
Adopting a multi-model approach can also be advantageous. This strategy leverages the unique strengths of various LLMs, potentially creating a tool that outperforms any single model. When evaluating a Legal AI solution, several critical questions should be posed to the provider:
- Is the product based on a single model or a multi-model approach?
- What is the average response time for the AI?
- Are there limitations on daily prompts?
- What is the architecture of the AI model, and how does it affect legal-specific tasks?
- Was the model trained on legal-specific or open-source data?
- Does the AI solution use a retrieval-augmented generation framework?
For those interested in a Gen AI platform tailored for legal work, Lexis+ AI offers a suite of tools for legal research, drafting, and summarization. Grounded in an extensive repository of legal content and enhanced by robust data security measures, Lexis+ AI aims to redefine legal research and document creation. To explore its potential, professionals can request a free trial here.
For more detailed guidance on selecting a Gen AI Legal Research Solution, download the buyer’s guide here.