You can’t believe everything you read in the news. Yet it’s fair to say there is a growing concern about the impact of AI across all professions with stories about people – including lawyers - being replaced by AI.
While AI is changing the way in which lawyers work, the picture is not all doom and gloom and there is certainly reason to be optimistic.
AI should be seen as a tool; one that can complement and enhance barristers’ work – but we should all proceed with caution.
The rapid advance and integration of GenAI has also brought huge changes and a myriad of ethical challenges for the legal sector. Lawyers risk paying a high penalty for using misinformation in court obtained from GenAI tools.
There’s a lack of free trusted resources to tackle both the limited knowledge in the profession and to educate the general public searching for legal advice. To address this my team and I at The Open University’s Open Justice Centre are leading a new initiative, from research that focuses on responsible AI skills. It’s part of the AI, law and legal training project funded by UKRI RAi and in collaboration with the University of Lincoln and Citizens Advice. It’s designed to enhance the use of GenAI both for understanding legal processes and accessing legal information.
Earlier research, outlined in our Interim AI law and legal training report, has revealed the poor knowledge and expertise in legal circles about GenAI and AI tools. The project comprises a suite of research-informed free courses which aim to both embrace AI and recognise its challenges for the legal and access to justice sector. To create the materials, we worked with law students, legal academics and practitioners, including members of the Bar and judiciary, through three design workshops to explore training needs and inform the course content.
These discussions identified concerns around accuracy and reliability of AI tools, ethics and regulation, skills development and the risk that AI adoption may reduce opportunities for junior lawyers to develop critical legal analysis skills, leading to concerns about future expertise. Recent case law has highlighted the risks of GenAI-generated hallucinations, errors, and the importance of human oversight.
The eight online courses, designed for beginners, offer 20 hours of free and engaging learning. They were launched in June at the AI, law, and legal training workshop. Lord Justice Birss delivered the keynote address, followed by three panel discussions, which fostered critical conversations on AI’s role in legal education, practice, and access to justice. The key message was that GenAI presents significant opportunities for the legal sector, but requires careful integration, strong oversight and clear regulatory guidance. To capitalise on the opportunities presented by GenAI, there is a requirement that all practitioners become AI literate.
Indeed, recent research from the Bar Standards Board ‘Technology and innovation at the Bar’ highlights that many barristers are keen to harness the benefits of technology and recognise the opportunities it brings, but the structure of the profession creates barriers. One of the key challenges noted in the report was the “absence of facilitation with and training on technology for the profession” and some participants “indicated a preference for remote and on-demand training”.
The AI law and legal training courses provide barristers with knowledge and skills required to understand how AI might be used in their practice. The courses explore the differences between AI and GenAI, how to prompt AI tools, an overview of what organisations need to consider if they are adopting AI tools, examples of how AI tools are being used, some of the risks, and finally strategies for keeping up to date with the rapid developments in AI and the importance of AI literacy.
To make the most of its potential, it is important to understand what AI is, how it works and how it can be integrated ethically and responsibly into professional practice.
But in an AI-driven world, it is vital to remember that human skills such as critical thinking, empathy, judgement and ethical reasoning are even more valuable.
Dr Francine is a senior lecturer in Law and Director of the Open Justice Centre, she is a qualified lawyer and legal academic. Her work focuses on bridging legal education and practice, with an emphasis on advancing access to justice through innovative teaching and research. Francine’s research explores the intersection between law and technology and in particularly technology enhanced learning.