This two-part blog series delves into the critical importance of professional-grade generative AI (GenAI) in highly regulated fields such as the legal industry, drawing insights from a recent webinar hosted by Harvard Business Review and sponsored by Thomson Reuters.
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| Takeaway #1: Every professional will be using GenAI |
| Takeaway #2: Early adoption an advantage |
| Takeaway #3: Risks of not using GenAI |
| This is just the beginning |
In an era of rapid technological advancement, generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has emerged as a transformative force across industries. As we navigate the evolving landscape of AI, it’s crucial for professionals to understand not just the capabilities of GenAI, but also how to leverage it responsibly and effectively within the constraints of the legal environment. This miniseries aims to provide you with valuable insights into how professional-grade GenAI can enhance your practice, streamline operations, and drive innovation – all while maintaining the highest standards of accuracy, security, and compliance.
In this first installment, we’ll explore a couple of key takeaways from the first half of the webinar, focusing on the unique opportunities that GenAI presents for professional services, the defining characteristics of professional-grade GenAI, the competitive advantages of early adoption, and the potential risks of delayed implementation.
Takeaway #1: In 3 to 5 years, every professional will be using a GenAI assistant
David Wong, Chief Product Officer at Thomson Reuters, emphasizes the significant potential of GenAI to disrupt regulated industries, particularly legal services. Based on the recent Future of Professionals report, it is predicted that by 2029, AI could handle about 200 hours of work per person annually. Wong anticipates that within 3-5 years, every professional will be using some form of AI assistant for substantive tasks.
This adoption is expected to enhance efficiency, reduce time spent on mundane work, and allow professionals to focus on high-value intellectual tasks. Ultimately, Wong believes this shift will lead to higher accuracy, quality, and better results for clients, making AI adoption in professional services not just beneficial – but inevitable.
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David Wong
Takeaway #2: Being an early adopter of GenAI secures a competitive advantage
Early adoption of AI in the legal industry offers significant competitive advantages, as highlighted by both Colleen Nihill and David Wong. Nihill, Chief AI & KMOfficer at Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, references Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers,” emphasizing the importance of gaining early experience with AI tools to develop expertise.
Morgan Lewis is focused on educating their workforce and adjusting workflows to integrate AI effectively, according to Nihill. Wong echoes this sentiment, noting that early integration of AI allows companies to secure a competitive edge by overcoming the learning curve and change management challenges sooner. He also points out that early adopters benefit from immediate operational efficiencies, creating a virtuous cycle of technology application and expansion. Furthermore, early engagement with AI providers like Thomson Reuters allows firms to influence product development, ensuring solutions are tailored to their specific needs. Both Nihill and Wong agree that the risks of late adoption include falling behind competitors and missing opportunities to shape the direction of AI tools in their industry.
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Colleen Nihill
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Takeaway #3: There are risks with not using professional-grade GenAI
David Wong emphasizes the critical importance of using professional-grade AI solutions, highlighting two main risks associated with non-professional alternatives.
Accuracy and reliability
Firstly, he stresses the importance of accuracy and reliability, noting that solutions prone to errors or lacking quantified reliability can put users in a difficult position. Professional-grade GenAI for legal professionals should be developed by technical teams who possess a deep understanding of GenAI and the legal industry, as well as use trusted, high-quality content from a credible and up-to-date source. These two facets of professional-grade GenAI ensure a transparent and verifiable solution that yields trustworthy results, which is a non-negotiable in the legal space.
Data privacy and security
Secondly, Wong underscores the risks related to data privacy and security, particularly given the novelty of GenAI technology. He advises adopting a conservative approach to security and privacy when implementing these tools.
Professional-grade GenAI should prioritize customer data privacy and security above all else. This means refraining from storing customer data or using that data to train third-party models. To guarantee consistent performance and effectiveness, professional-grade GenAI should employ robust encryption methods to safeguard data in transit and at rest. By doing so, users can have complete confidence in GenAI, knowing that their data is secure and their privacy is respected.
This is just the beginning
We’ve touched on the immense opportunities GenAI presents for professional services, the defining characteristics of professional-grade solutions, the competitive advantages of early adoption, and the risks associated with delayed implementation or using non-professional tools for legal work. However, this blog only scratches the surface of the insights shared by industry experts David Wong and Colleen Nihill. Their full discussion delves deeper into the nuances of leveraging GenAI in professional services.
In the second and final part of our series, we’ll explore additional critical aspects of GenAI adoption, including data privacy, rigorous testing of technology, and perhaps the most important aspect of professional-grade GenAI – the human element.
Don’t miss out on these crucial insights that could shape the future of your practice – here is part two.
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