Half of Australian lawyers fear AI will take their jobs, research reveals

New research has revealed 51 per cent of private practice lawyers believe AI will threaten their employment, as firms continue to approach new technologies with cautious optimism.

More than half of private practice lawyers believe AI will threaten their jobs.

More than half of private practice lawyers believe AI will threaten their jobs, new research has revealed, as firms continue to approach new technologies with cautious optimism.

The research, conducted by Thomson Reuters and provided exclusively to The Australian, shows despite these concerns for the future of work, 69 per cent of the workforce believe technology will improve workflow efficiency, and 40 per cent of firms are already experimenting with AI.

“Legal professionals are cautiously optimistic towards large language models; they are assessing the many risks and opportunities the technology offers,” Thomson Reuters vice-president of proposition Carl Olson said.

“AI has the growing capacity to augment human intelligence, not replace it. It can help lawyers work more efficiently, and, alongside human expertise, AI has the capacity to deliver unprecedented accuracy.

“As the technology continues to evolve, law firms and legal departments will need to harness AI’s potential whilst educating their clients about the risks involved with navigating large language models.”

This is the first wide-ranging survey presenting quantitative data on how law firms are responding to the advent of AI.

About 60 per cent of lawyers foresee a rise in more complex litigation and disputes because of generative AI, and 49 per cent of in-house counsel are training their organisation on the risks ­associated with it, the research has found.

Large Australian legal firms have been on the front foot with the new technology, with global firms Ashurst and Gilbert + Tobin running large, cash-incentivised competitions for staff to come up with ideas to integrate AI.

PwC, KPMG and Allens this year have bought expensive chatbots that lawyers can use to ask questions about complicated legal matters.

MinterEllison chief executive Virginia Briggs, whose firm has been using AI for more than five years, said new technologies were an important way for organisations to stay competitive and ­increase efficiency.

“We see this as an opportunity to free our people to be market makers for new services and offerings, improve their digital fluency to remain competitive, and partner with our clients through times of change,” she told The Australian’s Legal Partnerships Survey last month.

“There is also an important role for lawyers to play in the regulation of new technology, as well as being able to respond to the legal implications that may arise as the technology advances as well.”