These days, news sites are flooded with articles about ChatGPT, the AI bot disrupting industries from programming to law.

And, with all the buzz, legal professionals and clients are asking: will AI replace lawyers?

Below, we’ll introduce you to OpenAI—the artificial intelligence company that developed Chat GPT—along with the notorious chatbot and what its development means for the legal profession.

What is OpenAI?

OpenAI is an artificial intelligence (AI) research and development company creating “highly autonomous systems that outperform humans at most economically valuable work.” Tools like ChatGPT are free to use—though, given the high demand, you may have trouble getting in.

What is ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is an AI-powered chatbot from OpenAI that responds to open-ended text queries with paragraphs of text-written answers. It was trained through reinforcement learning from human feedback. During this process, human AI trainers would converse as a user and an AI assistant, then rank chatbot responses to teach the chatbot how to respond appropriately.

How do you use ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is relatively simple to use—all you have to do is type in your request on the ChatGPT website. For instance, you can ask the tool to write a poem, answer a question in Shakespearean English, or solve complex math problems.

From there, you’ll get a unique, surprisingly-accurate answer on the same website.

Person reaching out to touch robot hand

Person reaching out to touch robot hand

What ChatGPT offers lawyers

While ChatGPT is still in the research phase, legal professionals are naturally asking: how can ChatGPT help lawyers?

There’s no doubt that ChatGPT presents opportunities for law firms. From creating legal marketing content to drafting legal documents, the benefits of automating your writing with AI seem endless.

And, what’s more, companies are already attempting to leverage GPT technology to support legal clients.

Take, for example, the lofty offer made by DoNotPay’s CEO, Joshua Browder, to pay $1,000,000 to any lawyer willing to let DoNotPay’s AI lawyer (powered by OpenAI’s GPT-3 technology, a variant of ChatGPT) argue a case in front of the Supreme Court on their behalf.

In this case, the “human lawyer” would wear AirPods and repeat the “AI lawyer’s” arguments verbatim.

Unfortunately, this offer faces a roadblock as Supreme Court attendees are banned from using electronic devices while in the courtroom. But the intent remains: AI has a role to play in the legal system—though, what role that is exactly remains to be seen.

Challenges ChatGPT poses for lawyers

Beyond technical limitations, like using electronic devices in the courtroom, ChatGPT faces additional hurdles in the legal sphere.

For one, this technology is still in development. And, as eerily accurate as its responses may be, ChatGPT is not a human lawyer. Lacking the nuance necessary to formulate complex legal arguments, it’s safe to say that—at this stage, at least—ChatGPT is not in a position to replace lawyers.

Additionally, a lawyer’s ethical obligations will always take precedence over convenience.

Not only are there ethical considerations in using AI to argue your cases for you, but issues of security, client privacy, and privilege can also arise through the transmission of data between your firm and ChatGPT.

Embracing technology—responsibly—in your law firm

While we’ve highlighted some of the ethical hurdles of using ChatGPT in a law firm, we also know that enthusiastic adoption of technology positively affects a law firm’s business performance, as noted in the 2020 Legal Trends Report. The adoption of multiple technologies has a compounding effect on business performance both in terms of impact and overall volume of casework and revenue collection.

In essence, adopting technologies that streamline routine legal tasks, save time, and help you to imprint your expertise on tasks that matter most is a win for any law firm. But it’s critical to assess and implement technology responsibly to ensure you’re meeting your ethical obligations and protecting your client’s interests.

Will AI replace lawyers? Final thoughts

Only time will tell what role ChatGPT may—or may not—play for the legal profession.

Still, one thing’s for certain: adopting technology responsibly can help save time managing your law firm and has a measurable impact on law firm performance.

Consider, also, how to get the most out of your technological investments—software like Clio comes with a wealth of tools, including client intake and payment processing. And, with over 200 integration partners, you can create a customized experience based on your firm’s unique needs.