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Embracing AI in legal practice: Opportunities and challenges | The TechTank Podcast

May 6, 2024


  • Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the legal profession by streamlining tasks such as contract review and research, making them faster and more accurate.
  • There’s a concern that widespread AI adoption could reduce the demand for entry-level legal professionals as AI takes over routine tasks once performed by them.
  • Many experts argue that AI will complement rather than replace lawyers, enabling them to focus on tasks requiring human judgment, creativity, and empathy.
AI ethics or AI Law concept. Developing AI codes of ethics.
AI ethics or AI Law concept. Source: Shutterstock

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to upend the organization and delivery of tasks for various industries, the legal profession stands at the forefront of such transformation. From ChatGPT to Google’s AI software, advancements in automation and machine learning are reshaping the landscape of legal work. 

With AI-driven technologies like natural language processing and document analysis, routine legal tasks such as contract review and research are now faster and more accurate than ever for attorneys and those in training. Yet, the integration of AI into legal practice is not without its challenges, and in some instances, a series of professional liabilities. 

One major concern will be its impact on the profession more generally, and junior attorneys in particular, whose practice in the profession will be driven by evolving and emerging technologies. Some researchers have suggested that widespread AI adoption could reduce the demand for entry-level legal professionals as AI takes over tasks once assigned to them. However, many experts argue that AI will complement rather than replace lawyers, enabling them to concentrate on tasks that demand human judgment, creativity, and empathy.  

On this week’s episode of the TechTank Podcast, co-host Nicol Turner Lee is joined by two distinguished experts, Mark Brennan, a tech and telecoms partner at Hogan Lovells law firm leading their global AI working group and John Villasenor, a nonresident senior fellow in the Center for Technology Innovation. They offer valuable insights into how AI is influencing the future of legal practice and the opportunities, as well as professional liabilities, it may present for professionals and clients.

You can listen to this episode and subscribe to the TechTank Podcast on Apple, Spotify, or Acast. 

  • Acknowledgements and disclosures

    Google is a general, unrestricted donor to the Brookings Institution. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions posted in this piece are solely those of the author and are not influenced by any donation.