Will ChatGPT Replace Lawyers: Legal Professionals & AI

The news that ChatGPT passed the United States bar exam must have stirred up numerous questions in many legal professionals’ minds. People are flooding the internet with questions like, “Will ChatGPT replace lawyers?”

Most tasks humans had control over and hired for some years ago have all been computerized or taken over by machines. These include tasks like legal research, translation, and journalism. 

Even entertainment, care work, and others that require empathy that we thought were safe are now being handled by robots. So, are lawyers safe? Will OpenAI’s ChatGPT not render human lawyers obsolete in the future?     

To most people, the answer is, “time will tell.” But I have a different view. Here are my humble opinions on the subject.  

What Is ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence (AI) powered chatbot created by OpenAI. OpenAI is a company spearheading the research and development of artificial intelligence. 

ChatGPT responds to open-ended text queries with written answers. The AI is trained via reinforcement learning from human feedback. 

Will ChatGPT Replace Lawyers?

While many tasks have already been computerized or made super easy by the introduction and advancement of technology, it’s improbable that ChatGPT will replace lawyers. Now, or in the future, it simply can’t.

So, if you’re a lawyer, there are valid reasons to worry about your career becoming obsolete. Artificial intelligence has already taken over several tasks and jobs. Fortunately, the legal profession isn’t one of them. 

The fact that ChatGPT 4 passed the US bar examination by scoring 76% (7% more than the average human test-taker) doesn’t mean it can replace lawyers in the courtroom. It is one thing to pass the bar exam and another to apply knowledge gained through years of learning in a courtroom, defending a client. 

The National Conference of Bar Examiners charged with designing multiple-choice questions, has shared its position on the possibility of ChatGPT replacing humans. They have clarified that attorneys possess unique skills gained through education and training that ChatGPT or any AI cannot possess.    

Why ChatGPT Cannot Replace Lawyers

ChatGPT has shown a glimpse of its capabilities, but it doesn’t have what it takes to replace human lawyers. No matter how advanced ChatGPT becomes in the future, it cannot replace human lawyers. 

ChatGPT-4 has shown the world that artificial intelligence has more to offer. And no one can deny that. However, some specific careers are too complex for ChatGPT to handle. They require empathy, critical analytical skills, interpersonal skills, intelligence, and a deep understanding. An example is the legal profession.  

Let’s discuss several reasons ChatGPT can’t replace lawyers now or in the future. 

1: ChatGPT isn’t a licensed legal practitioner:

While ChatGPT can give helpful legal information about varied subjects, it can’t provide legal advice. Even if it offers legal advice, it won’t be taken seriously. 

Only a trained and licensed legal professional can provide legal advice. A lawyer can be held accountable for any legal advice he or she provides. We can’t say the same thing for ChatGPT.

2: ChatGPT has limited data:

There is a limit to the information you can get from ChatGPT. And for that reason, it cannot perform the job that lawyers do. 

ChatGPT can only provide information it can access. It cannot think logically or give judgment based on the responses of a defendant or plaintiff. 

So, it can’t replace human lawyers. It can’t replace the expertise, experience, empathy and judgment that makes human lawyers unique. It cannot cross-examine people or ask unique questions based on the legal matter and evidence available. 

A human lawyer can observe the evidence, cross-examine witnesses, and defend their clients based on the testimonies of the witnesses and all parties involved in the case. Unfortunately, ChatGPT can’t do such. 

It is the information stored in the AI tool or that the AI itself can access that it can provide. It can’t think critically and doesn’t have the emotions, mental capacity, and logic that a human lawyer has. 

3: Lawyers have a deep understanding of laws that ChatGPT doesn’t have: 

Make no mistake: ChatGPT can help legal professionals. It is helpful for document generation, review, and other related tasks. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have the deep understanding of laws, regulations, and legal procedures that human lawyers have. 

So, the fact that ChatGPT can generate legal data doesn’t mean it can replace human lawyers. The legal profession requires more than the generation of legal data. You must be able to take the legal data and apply your understanding of the law to proffer the right solution, following the provisions of the law. 

So, while a human lawyer has analytical and evaluation skills, ChatGPT doesn’t. And no matter how advanced it becomes in the future, it will likely not become as analytical as or replace human lawyers. So, there is no way AI can replace lawyers now or in the future, unless they can create one with a human brain. 

4: Laws vary from place to place:

Laws vary from state to state and from one country to another. Additionally, lawyers can argue their cases by creatively citing similar cases. ChatGPT can’t do that. It doesn’t have a deep understanding of the laws like human lawyers. 

Laws also change. So, there is a tendency for ChatGPT to provide obsolete information, as it only acts on data fed to it. 

5: ChatGPT lacks critical lawyering skills: 

The legal profession is more than quoting laws and citing similar cases. It goes beyond that. A good lawyer must be a good negotiator. A lawyer must know when to request an out-of-court settlement or continue a case. A legal professional is hired to deliver the client’s desired goal. It can be freedom, justice, or reduced jail time. 

ChatGPT can’t decide when to request an out-of-court settlement or negotiate on behalf of a client. So, it cannot defend a person.  

The legal profession is highly complex, and so are legal matters. A lawyer must be intelligent, persuasive and use every opportunity to convince a judge their client is innocent or deserves justice. And you have two lawyers on both sides: one for the defendant and the other for the plaintiff. 

Both lawyers have to defend their clients based on the evidence before them. They will also argue from unique angles to boost their chances of winning the case. 

In contrast, if you have two ChatGPTs instead of the two lawyers, you’ll have two AIs dishing out the same defenses. 

6: ChatGPT can’t represent clients in court:

Legal services are more than providing legal advice or legal information. Lawyers must also appear in court to defend their clients. 

Unfortunately, ChatGPT cannot represent a client in court. The best it can do is to provide legal information, review or generate documents, and nothing more. It can also provide legal advice. But then, legal advice isn’t what someone convicted of murder will be interested in. Instead, a suspect in such a delicate case would need a qualified, trained, and licensed lawyer.  

In conclusion, ChatGPT doesn’t have what it takes to replace lawyers. It cannot do the work of lawyers. 

6 Benefits of ChatGPT To Lawyers

Instead of replacing lawyers, ChatGPT can complement them. Lawyers can be more effective with ChatGPT. 

Now, let us look at how ChatGPT can make lawyers more effective. 

1: Can make legal research a breeze for lawyers:

Legal research was complex before the advent of the internet. The internet came and made it so easy for attorneys to retrieve information. Now, with ChatGPT, legal research has become much easier. 

Legal research with ChatGPT is more effortless because of the extensive data the AI is trained with. It can retrieve legal information from its vast legal database, statutes, and case laws. 

All a lawyer needs to do is enter relevant information in ChatGPT, and the result will pop up. This AI tool makes research a breeze as it can sieve through an extensive database and provide results closest to the search queries. 

If you are a lawyer and you want to conduct legal research, ChatGPT is a wise choice. It will simplify the process and give you access to the materials or information needed for every case. 

2: ChatGPT serves as a tech support tool:

Lawyers can use ChatGPT to their advantage. They can become more efficient and faster when using ChatGPT to perform most of their tasks. 

An example is legal research. With ChatGPT, legal research that would take hours can be done in just a short time. Thus, as a lawyer, your productivity can increase with this AI tool. And the faster you are with research, the more clients you can support daily, and the higher the revenue you can generate. 

3: Generate legal documents faster:

Lawyers are often tasked with creating legal documents for their clients. While they have the required training and knowledge to create the necessary legal documents, the challenge is how cumbersome some of the documents can be. 

Sometimes, a lawyer may take hours or days to prepare a legal document. They waste productive hours that can be diverted to other tasks to help the firm grow and generate more revenue.

The legal documents range from motions to contracts and pleadings. I am not saying law firms don’t get paid for preparing such documents. They generate revenue from it. But as a lawyer, remember that you can prepare any legal document within a few minutes or seconds instead of spending hours wracking your brain. 

With ChatGPT, all lawyers need to do is enter specific information in the chatbot and ask ChatGPT to create the legal document they seek. 

For instance, if you’re creating a document for a client who wants to hire new employees, you can enter the specific information in the chatbot and ask ChatGPT to generate a contract for you. In seconds, the AI tool will create the document you seek. 

A Handy Tip: Some people may wonder if legal documents created by ChatGPT are usable. The answer is yes. The documents you’ll get from this AI tool will be as well-organized as the ones from a trained legal practitioner. 

4: Use of ChatGPT will result in cost reduction:

Lawyers working for law firms perform various duties. Among them are due diligence, document reviews, and drafting. These tasks take time. They can occupy lawyers and rob them of some valuable productive time they could have diverted to other tasks. 

With ChatGPT, lawyers can save time reviewing documents, drafting, and other related tasks. This AI tool can handle everything satisfactorily. 

And it is a win for law firms. Reducing costs will result in an increase in revenue for the firm. So ChatGPT can help a law firm slash their expenses and generate more revenue. 

5: Make document review easier:

Document review is a task in litigations that takes so much time from lawyers. But it is an important task, so it must be done anyway.

The good news is lawyers don’t have to spend hours reviewing legal documents. ChatGPT can handle the task satisfactorily. It doesn’t matter how cumbersome the document is; this AI tool can review it with the twinkle of an eye. 

Risks of Utilizing ChatGPT For Legal Works

Firstly, are there any dangers of using ChatGPT for legal work? The answer is yes. This AI tool has several advantages that make it look promising and valuable for legal work. But as the saying goes, “Not all that glitters are gold.”

There are risks to using ChatGPT for your legal work, which we will discuss shortly. Check them out below:

1: Accuracy challenge:

ChatGPT is garbage in, garbage out. It doesn’t generate unique information on its own. Additionally, users don’t have control over the source of information the AI tool was trained with, how the data was gathered, and how the algorithm display the results. 

You can see the statement from OpenAI on ChatGPT. OpenAI created ChatGPT, and they have admitted to it being inaccurate sometimes. 

In their words, “ChatGPT sometimes writes plausible-sounding but incorrect answers. Unfortunately, fixing this problem has been challenging for the OpenAI team.

The potential bias and inaccuracies of ChatGPT’s responses are unacceptable in the legal practice. It poses a considerable risk to lawyers. 

If there is an unchecked error in a document that has been signed, a judge won’t consider the error to be a mistake from ChatGPT when an issue arises. Instead, you, as the lawyer, will pay dearly for the mistake. 

So, one major challenge of using ChatGPT is the accuracy of the information it delivers. It can be a massive risk for lawyers. 

2: Copyright issues:

Copyright or plagiarism is a serious offense in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the rest of the world. In the United States, it is a serious crime and a felony in some states. 

The punishment for plagiarism in the United States of America varies. For instance, if the plagiarist earns up to $2,500 from the work copied, the person may pay a fine of $250,000 or spend up to 10 years in jail. 

Unfortunately, some companies are stubborn and will ruin a plagiarist’s life. They don’t accept plagiarism and will do anything possible to punish anyone who copies their work. 

With ChatGPT, the tendency to plagiarize is high. OpenAI even confirmed in its terms and conditions that all the rights, titles, and interests concerning a response are assigned to the user. 

OpenAI has also made clear in its terms and conditions that responses from ChatGPT may not be unique. Instead, they may be repeated. You may end up with the same or similar responses as other users. 

ChatGPT doesn’t provide fresh responses whenever a request is made. Instead, the AI tool gets its response from existing work. So, the possibility of copying someone else’s work is high. 

Conclusion

Will ChatGPT replace lawyers? No, AI can’t take over the job of lawyers. The legal profession is complex and requires unique skills. Lawyers have deep knowledge and understanding of the law that ChatGPT doesn’t have.

Additionally, lawyers undergo years of training and practice to understand how to apply the law to defend their clients. ChatGPT doesn’t have such capability, though it can provide legal information and make legal research a breeze. 

ChatGPT cannot represent clients in court like human lawyers. It doesn’t have the capacity. So, there is no way AI can replace lawyers. It might replace other professions in the future, but not the legal profession. So, if you’re a lawyer, panic is unnecessary. Your job is safe.