Episode 158: Future 50 Series – AI beyond the hype in legal

Robots are going to replace lawyers! That’s the headline that often comes to mind when we think about AI in the legal world. But, it’s not realistic for a bunch of different reasons and in this session, we discussed why with Uwais Iqbal, the Founder of simplexico, a legal AI consultancy based in the UK and dedicated to serving the AI, ML and NLP needs of the legal sector. You’ll also find Uwais on Twitter here.

Uwais’ background as a machine learning engineer and data scientist and, the emerging need for those skills in the legal world, is what connected him to it. From that lived experience, he identified an opportunity to make AI understandable, user-friendly, and an integral part of the legal marketplace. It’s an amazing story and where we started this conversation.

We then jumped into some myth-busting and discussed where AI in legal lies today on the Gartner Hype Cycle and where we can expect that to go. We did a deep dive into the practical benefits of AI. We also discussed the challenges, especially those that relate to and have already pointed to the need for careful review, consideration, and determination in areas like ethics and bias.

We ended with a discussion about ChatGPT. Having been launched in November 2022, it was a hot topic in the media when we spoke and, subject to mixed reactions. We discussed how the real opportunity of this AI, and AI in general, was yet to be fully realised and we’ll likely get closest to seeing it when the data sets used to train AI to move from the public to private arenas.  

This is a conversation everyone in the legal ecosystem should watch/listen to. AI is going to influence decisions and impact every part of the legal world. It won’t all happen at the same time but, one thing is for sure, it’s going to be harder and harder to catch up if we don’t get on board and at least follow the trajectory.

If you would prefer to watch rather than listen to this podcast, you’ll find the video here.

About the Future 50 Series

In the Future 50 Series, we’re chatting with legalpreneurs who, through their ideas and actions, are challenging and transforming legal BAU all around the world.

If you would like to recommend people for this Series, please contact us at: CLI@collaw.edu.au.