Australia's top tier law firms are rushing to adopt AI — but to what end?
Over the past year there has been a plethora of headlines about 'big six' and other elite law firms integrating AI into their operations. But is it more than just a marketing stunt?
Some are running, others walking, but pretty much every firm worth its salt in the Australian legal market is moving towards some form of generative artificial intelligence adoption.
The headlines over the past year underscore the point. From warnings that legal services jobs are among the most vulnerable in an AI revolution, to arguing that automation at scale is likely to increase profits and enable more junior lawyers to generate more client billings rather than get swamped in gruntwork.
The end goal is largely uncertain for a technology that many in the legal industry still see as nascent. Law firms need to keep pace with one another's technology credentials, as well as the technology knowhow of their clients, who are also starting to deploy generative AI in their own businesses.
But a more skeptical view is that generative AI, like email before it, will create more work rather than free time and in fact increase a push from clients to lower the prices they are willing to pay for services.
