However, a significant chunk believes that AI should not be acting for clients in court
A total of 99% of Australian legal professionals see the use of AI in administrative tasks as ethical, according to a new Thomson Reuters report.
The results of the Future of Professionals report also indicated that 83% of legal professionals were at ease with utilising AI in research and analysis tasks.
“With professionals predicting that AI will save them up to 200 hours in the next year, the potential economic impact is significant. For a US lawyer, the time saved could translate to up to US$100,000 a year in additional billable time, and we can expect similar productivity gains across other professions”, Thomson Reuters President and CEO Steve Hasker said.
The report revealed that 63% of the respondents surveyed for the study had already incorporated AI-powered technology into research, summarisation and drafting tasks in particular. In fact, half of the law firm respondents had AI in their top five strategic priorities for the next 18 months.
Nonetheless, Hasker noted that professionals across the board emphasised the need for AI to be used responsibly, “with nearly two-thirds of professionals stressing human oversight”. Notably, 95% of legal professionals drew the line at letting AI act for clients in court and make the ultimate call on complex legal, tax and risk, fraud and compliance matters.
The Future of Professionals surveyed over 2,200 professionals across the UK, Canada, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand online from April to May. The respondents worked in the legal, tax and accounting, and risk and compliance fields.
