What is Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial Intelligence [AI] is a computer system able to perform tasks that ordinarily require human intelligence. Many of these artificial intelligence systems are powered by machine learning, some of them are powered by deep learning and some of them are powered by very boring things like rules. This comes with learning which involves garnering the rules and information for using the data. Due to data based service industries it has become very popular and necessity.

How is Artificial Intelligence affecting our daily life?

Artificial intelligence is a technology that is impacting our lives in a positive manner and which is also taking part in our daily issues like a reminder for meetings, suggesting articles & news of our interest. In the near future, its impact is likely to spread on entire database industries.

Artificial Intelligence has the potential to immensely modify the manner that human interact, notsolelywith the digital world but also with one another, through their work and through other socioeconomic institutions, for better or for worse.

If we are to ensure that the impact of artificial intelligence will be positive, it will be essential that all stakeholders participate in the debates surrounding Artificial Intelligence.

Why Artificial Intelligence is important for Indian legal framework?

In recent times we have seen artificial intelligence being implemented at a small but highly effective scale in various Industries, from robotic concierges in hotels to automated entertainment or in Cell phones. Artificial intelligence has changed the shape of multiple industries.

The Indian legal sector has seen very little innovation in terms of technology and lawyers these days still comfortable and relying on the methods and solutions that were designed years ago. Artificial intelligence can play a big part in changing the way lawyers operate and the law is looked at in India.

One of the biggest disruptions that can be caused by Artificial Intelligence in law is that in the field of legal research. The Indian legal system is vast and constantly changing and with the use of Artificial Intelligence, lawyers can get unparalleled insight into the legal domain within seconds. Currently to get legal research done a significant number of man-hours are required and this significantly reduces the profit-making ability of a law firm, however, with Artificial Intelligence the entire legal fraternity can be balanced. An artificially intelligent platform for research can get research done in seconds and be it a law firm with 400 lawyers or single practising lawyer, artificial intelligence can balance the expenditure required for in legal research making the quality of research uniform. It can provide lawyers with highly efficient and advanced tools helping lawyers become better in advising clients or litigating.

A slew of Indian legal tech startups i.e. SpotDraft, CaseMine, NearLaw, Pensieve, Practice League etc are building Natural Language Processing [NLP] based applications and introducing next-generation legal research platforms that help law firms go beyond simple, keyword-based research, thereby making it less time-consuming. Many legal startups are fast rising in Artificial Intelligence research capabilities, some of who have their own AI research labs.

What would be the face of future Law firms?

Over a previous couple of years, the legal industry not only India however globally has seen a high growth within the level of competition. Now it has become imperative for law companies to realize competitive blessings by understanding the advancements in technology and client requirements. Those who would flip a blind eye to those changes would, sadly, be obsolete within the next few years.

Future Law Firms would be completely different from what we tend to see these days. Let’s shed some light on a few characteristics of what the advanced law firms would be like:
1. Innovations in servicing clients:
The way clients are serviced and treated would drastically change in the future. Law Firms would approach their clients with some innovative ideas and more authentic and economic legal solutions. Nowadays, in India Law Firms billed their services based on the time is taken for it to produce the services or in alternative words, the billable hour method, however, this billing method would go obsolete in the future. To service their clients better, law firms would look at innovating their pricing strategies and implement say a Performance-Based Pricing Strategy [PBPS]: As the name suggests, this pricing model would be extremely client friendly as client shall only pay once they achieve targets and same would strengthen the professional relations between the clients and Law Firms.

2. Focus from Revenue to Higher profits:
Nowadays Law Firms have focused on increasing revenue and if we look closely the competition between law firms have constantly been increasing and the demand for legal services has been stagnant making growth in revenue extremely difficult. Therefore, in future law firms would not focus on revenue, but on higher profits and margins.

3. Making Technology the foundation for growth:
In the last few years, we have noticed a significant introduction of new AI-based solutions aimed at making the legal sector more efficient and client friendly. From E-Discovery solutions to automation in contract drafting, trademark search, various legal tech startups have come up to improve the lives of a lawyer or firm. Artificially Intelligence based legal solutions help law firms become more efficient and possibly reduce costs and gain higher profits. The future law firm would not only adopt these technologies but will also work in synergies with various companies to build AI-based solutions that could further improve the legal sector.

4. High focus on brand value:
In future law firm would focus heavily on their brand presence. A piece of sloppy or negligent advice from just a few people can easily damage a firm's reputation therefore in order to develop the brand value law firm need to rely on AI-based legal solutions and platform and tech-savvy lawyers. On the other end law firms also need to organize more and more conferences and make their appearance on cross border seminar and workshops.

Artificial Intelligence is not the replacement of a lawyer?

Nowadays there is a burning question among the lawyers that whether Introduction of Artificial Intelligence in legal sector would replace the lawyer and legal analyst or the AI-based solutions and platform would increase the efficiency and productivity of Firms and Lawyers.

The legal sector has seen the introduction of many new solutions where technology has improved the efficiency of lawyers, contract analysis, trademark search software, legal research software and much more. However, none of the AI-based software or program target to take a lawyer’s job and all the IA based software and programmes are increasing the authenticity, accuracy of research and analysis and the same are more result oriented now.

The legal profession is highly driven by analysis, decision making, and representation which cannot be automated. AI-based software and programmes can reduce a lawyer’s time and effort considerably and can help the lawyers and firms give a more authentic and result oriented suggestion to their clients.

The legal industry is still developing in India and looking forward to more IA based and automated assisting tools and software. However, these IA-based and automated assisting tools and software are not going to replace the lawyer’s job where analysis, decision making and stratification is required but would actually make them more efficient & competent while automating various clerical tasks.

Areas where Artificial Intelligence are helping the legal industry

It is believed that artificial intelligence has great scope for Indian Legal Sector and a combination of artificial intelligence and law will witness immense growth in the near future. Currently, there are many fields or arena in which artificial intelligence in law is proving to be useful these are as follows:
Due Diligence -To review a contract, conduct legal research or performing electronic discovery functions to do due diligence, AI legal software are proving to be helpful and time effective.

Prediction Technology- Artificial intelligence legal software also predicts the probable outcome of the cases being adjudicated before the Court of Law.

Legal Analytics- Artificial Intelligence provides for the data points from past case laws, and also provides judgements and precedent law to be used by lawyers in their present cases.

Automation of Documentation- By just submitting the required documents which you wish to incorporate in your legal document get your documents ready within minutes.

Intellectual Property- Tools of artificial intelligence helps in providing the insights into the IP portfolios i.e. search and registration of a trademark, Patent, Copyrights etc.

Electronic Billing- Artificial intelligence legal software also helps the lawyer and Firms in preparing the invoices as per the work done by them. It makes for accurate billing for the work done by a lawyer. Thus, helps both lawyers and clients.

Artificial Intelligence’s Contribution To Human Productivity: Boon Or Bane?

There is a wrong assumption among the lawyers and Law Firms that Artificial Intelligence or Machine Learning is a threat to their existence, or put simply, that Artificial Intelligence is going to replace Lawyers. The evidence, from other industries and verticals such as e-commerce, healthcare and accounting is that Artificial Intelligence will only enable lawyers and law firms to do more with less, to become way more productive than their predecessors.

I hope that the use of Artificial Intelligence would start from what is traditionally known as the “Bar” and then shall extend itself to the “Bench” wherein even Judges could utilize the power of NLP Summarisation to gather the sum of the contentions of both parties Judges could quickly deduce which part contains merit as per the Acts/Statutes and the latest case laws on the subject of law pertaining to the dispute.

Based on the above discussion I don’t find a single reason for which Artificial Intelligence is going to take over the jobs of professionals. In fact, IA based program will make the professionals more productive, efficient, better, more accurate and output focused.