Given that AI is top of mind for so many of us right now, I’ve started polling our in-house friends about how they’re using AI in their practice (here’s my last blog with in-house anecdotes – and the one before that). As one might expect, the perspectives and views are varied:
- “I’ll admit it. I fought this for a while. I thought AI was another overhyped technology looking for a problem. Then I realized I was spending two hours manually comparing disclosure language across three prior proxy statements while one of my colleagues finished the same exercise in twenty minutes using AI as a starting point.
That was my wake-up call. (By the way, I thrive on my wake-up calls. Lean into those.) I still don’t trust AI. I trust my review of AI. There’s a meaningful difference between those two things. And I suspect there always will be.”
- “I tell my team that AI is like GPS. I wouldn’t drive across the country without it anymore, but I also wouldn’t drive into a lake just because it told me to.”
- “The amount of AI we’re using today would have shocked me a year ago. The amount we’ll be using a year from now will probably shock today’s version of me. Although we are starting to be more mindful about the cost of AI. So things could swing back any day now. Life is a crap shoot.”
- “Broc, you always ask me the most provocative questions. This new era is overwhelming in a way that others were not. I don’t like it. It makes me want to retire.
But I can say that one of the unintended benefits is that AI has made me a better writer. When you ask it to rewrite something three different ways, you start noticing your own bad habits.”
- “We’re using AI because our business partners already assume we are. When someone in Finance can summarize a 300-page acquisition agreement in fifteen minutes, they’re naturally wondering why Legal needs two days to answer what they see as a straightforward question. Some of that expectation is unrealistic, but some of it is fair.”
- “I’m probably the most skeptical person in our department. AI is impressive right up until it isn’t. And unfortunately, it seems that those moments usually happen in places that you don’t check as closely like the footnotes.”
- “The best use case for me is preparing for meetings. Before an Audit Committee meeting, I’ll use AI to organize issues, identify likely questions and remind me of topics we discussed six months ago. It doesn’t replace preparation. I would say it makes my preparation better.”
- “All I can say is ugh. I can’t take it anymore.”
- “The technology isn’t optional anymore. Maybe individual lawyers can choose not to use it. Public companies probably can’t.”
- “I’ve noticed an interesting shift. Last year people whispered that they were using AI. This year people openly trade prompts.”
- “We’re still figuring out the guardrails. The technology arrived first. Governance is playing catch-up.”
- “AI hasn’t eliminated work. It’s eliminated some of the tedious parts of work. I didn’t go to law school because I dreamed of spending my career reformatting disclosure tables. But I did it willingly anyways. I think I’ll actually miss it. Isn’t that crazy!”
Authored by
Broc Romanek