by 
INTRODUCTION
The world in which we live in keeps changing, humans tend to find much more easier ways of doing things, and this has led to the continuing and rapid development of technology. The world is facing technological revolution as technology keeps on disrupting every sphere and sector of our lives.
Prominent among the technological developments that are causing massive disruption in every sector is Artificial Intelligence (AI), and as AI continue to maintain its place in our daily activities, it has made a particular point clear, that is ‘AI is here to stay’.
WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
The term Artificial Intelligence has no specific definition/meaning. John McCarthy who is regarded as the first person to use the term Artificial Intelligence defines it as “the science and engineering of making intelligent machines.” He described the threshold as “getting a computer to do things which when done by people, are said to involve intelligence.”[1]
In simplest term, AI are techniques and methods of getting machines to work, imitate, and behave like humans. AI are created to carry out tasks that are once carried out by humans alone, and AI conduct these tasks efficiently, and effectively, in a much faster way.
Some people perceive AI as robots who are going to take over and conquer the human world. This is not right to say as AI is there to aid human activities and make life easier. As a matter of fact, we use AI in our daily activities without realizing.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND THE LEGAL PROFESSION
AI is rapidly gaining relative importance in the legal industry. This has caused different predictions as some lawyers fear that AI will take the place of lawyers in the legal industry. However, while AI will reduce the need for lawyers to perform certain activities, it will not replace or takeover the place of lawyers. AI will only enhance the works of lawyers, thereby making their work more efficient, effective, and thorough.
AI will boost and increase the skills of lawyers and their sense of judgement. The work that will take much time of a lawyer is now being done by AI in a much faster way thereby saving the time of lawyers and also making legal services easier, faster, better, and affordable. Law Firms across the globe are adopting AI in delivering their services to clients, criminal lawyers are making use of AI to gather evidence, and of course AI if fully adopted will make access to justice much more better.
Since the legal profession is never stagnant as it keeps on changing and developing, AI will indeed become a tool for the development of the legal industry.
The areas of the applicability of AI in the legal profession include but are not limited to the following:
LEGAL RESEARCH
Gone are the days when lawyers have to spend hours, days, and weeks looking for cases, or laws to back up a case in Court. Gone are those days when lawyers have to flip through huge volumes of books all in the name of making legal research. With the aid of AI, lawyers can now make research in few hours and at their own convenience.
An example of AI that enhances lawyers research skills is the ROSS Intelligence which the legal version of IBM’S Watson. ROSS is an AI that can make legal research. It uses the language systems and allows the user to search in his/her natural language. ROSS has access to cases from all the Courts in the U.S. It however carries out this research in a unique way as it only identifies the relevant cases required by a lawyer. The ROSS Intelligence can also help in drafting briefs.
The Law Pavilion which also gives access to cases in Nigeria is an example of AI use cases in the legal profession. Instead of checking for cases manually, lawyers can access them using the Law Pavilion. This makes legal research easier. Other functions have also been added to the Law Pavilion in order to boost the efficacy of the legal profession.
CASE PREDICTION
AI machines are now developed to predict what the outcome of a case will be. Although lawyers can also carry out this task, AI tends to be more accurate in predicting the outcome of cases. Thus, with the help of AI, Law Firms can easily advise clients on whether a particular action should be instituted in Court or not. This will help both lawyers and their clients.
CONTRACT REVIEW AND DUE DILIGENCE
AI are now use to review contract and carry out due diligence. Instead of having teams of lawyers reviewing and reading bulky documents. AI that are made for such purpose can now carry out this function effectively. Kira Systems asserts that its software is capable of performing a more accurate due diligence contract review by searching, highlighting, and extracting relevant content for analysis.[2] Other team members who need to perform multiple reviews of the content can search for the extracted information with links to the original source using the software.[3] The company claims that its system can complete the task up to 40 percent faster when using it for the first time, and up to 90 percent for those with more experience.[4] Other AI use in contract review include LawGEEX, ThoughtRiver and so on.
AUTOMATION OF DOCUMENTS
Instead of having to write similar document almost every time, Law Firms now use AI systems to create documents and software templates. Thus, using expert systems, lawyers in all areas of practice can make use of automated documents to make their work easier and faster. An example of this is Perfect NDA which offers Non-disclosure agreement templates.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
With the assistance of AI, lawyers can efficiently carry out patent and trademark search. This reduces the time spent in carrying out Intellectual Property Management.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND THE PRODUCTIVITY OF LAWYERS
AI can improve the productivity of lawyers thereby giving them ample time to improve their analytical skills, judgmental skills, and interpersonal skills with their clients. AI also tends to limit the errors made by lawyers in the process of making research.
CONCLUSION
AI will not take over the legal profession, rather lawyers and law firms leveraging on AI to offer legal services are definitely going to take over. Law firms and lawyers adopting AI are going to be more productive. The cost of legal services will also get cheaper thereby enhancing the justice system.
Since AI is here to stay, universities and law school should also adopt AI in order to prepare law students for the tasks ahead of them.
If used appropriately, AI will aid the development of the legal profession and make it more valuable to members of the society.
Ismail is a law student from Bayero University, Kano. She is a technology law enthusiast.
Endnotes
[1] Darrell M. West ‘What is artificial intelligence?’, (2018), https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.brookings.edu/research/what-is-artificial-intelligence/amp/ accessed 21 November 2020
[2] AI in Law and Legal Practice – A Comprehensive View of 35 Current Applications’, https://emerj.com/ai-sector-overviews/ai-in-law-legal-practice-current-applications/ accessed 21 November 2020
[3] ibid
[4] Supra, note iii
