Posted by Philip Armstrong, associate solicitor at Legal Futures Associate Express Solicitors
Armstrong: AI has the potential to provide invaluable assistance
Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly prominent in every area of business.
It can assist in the automated processing of information, increasing the efficiency of processing large amounts of data, data analysis, risk management and even fraud detection.
As a personal injury solicitor working in a firm keen on considering and adopting new technologies, I often wonder if we will see the implementation of this technology and how it will affect the profession, be it for better or worse.
The traditional lawyer in me – and one who increasingly finds technology more confusing with each passing day – is resistant but it doesn’t take a lot to surmise that it will likely become a very important tool.
With that in mind, I want to consider what AI could be used for in a personal injury firm.
Case strategy
AI programmes can be used to analyse large amounts of data. They seem well placed to inspect a firm’s historical case data to evaluate the strength of an existing claim. This could very well assist a lawyer in determining the likelihood of success, thereby allowing them to make an informed decision on whether to proceed with the claim or not.
This minimises the risk and time we spend on cases likely to fail.
AI has unlimited and untapped access to the internet, and this, coupled with processing speeds, mean complex legal research and data analysis could be performed on each case without any time lost to the lawyer or business.
AI could highlight emerging trends and present potential strategies to use in real-time.
A common misunderstanding of AI is that it is ‘intelligent’ beyond what is inputted by the human programmer. So it is unlikely to ever understand human nuances.
It is certainly not currently able to understand social contexts, which means that a well-trained lawyer will pick up the subtleties of a particular client, the accident circumstances, or a claim generally that a computer will not.
Naturally, all of this analytical capability is heavily reliant on the user inputting the data correctly. Many would argue, myself included, that an increased automation of tasks leads to an over-reliance on technology and a reduction in error spotting by the lawyer.
Without inputting new processes and providing comprehensive training, AI could easily become a burden.
Client contact
AI chats are becoming more prominent for service providers to use either at the initial stage of an enquiry or the complaint process. I am sure we have all come across these in both our personal and professional lives.
In the future, we are likely to see law firms adopt this technology too. They have the potential to be used to search client files and provide a general and immediate progress update, direct the call to the correct department or even give generic advice on a particular part of the claim which may be commonly queried.
They could also deal with clients in any language, which would avoid the need for interpreters for simple calls and queries.
There are obvious benefits, such as freeing up file-handlers’ time, reducing support staff required and thus naturally reducing costs.
However, I am sure we all know the irritation felt after we take time out of a busy working day or are contacting a company in a time of stress, to be met by a very frustrating automated response. This often results in aggravation and impatience by the time you can reach a human and can arguably make what would be a minor criticism major in nature.
As lawyers, client care is firmly placed at the front of our minds and the worry certainly is that using AI in this way could compromise the client’s experience throughout the lifetime of the claim.
Case management
We all know that personal injury claims involve a lot of paperwork, such as medical records and insurance documents.
AI is already able to scan and analyse documents, extract information and manage the same for easy retrieval and organisation. It can be used in scheduling appointments, sending reminders and managing communication with people both inside and outside a firm.
AI can assist in compiling and creating bundles of documents for the court or clients, by accessing the existing case management system. It can automate the completion of forms, transcribe lengthy telephone calls and even generate a succinct summary.
This would reduce the more repetitive and time-consuming tasks we lawyers carry out, in turn allowing us to spend more time on billable work and client care, resulting in lower costs and higher profits.
I would certainly appreciate an automated review of medical records, particularly handwritten notes.
Again, there is a risk that without proper procedures to check documents, papers could be filed incorrectly and client information could be left open to data breaches. Checking work will still be required and cannot be avoided.
Internal processes and client feedback
Let’s not forget that at the core of every firm is a business striving to succeed. AI could be used to analyse it in order to improve internal processes, including training, management and customer experience.
AI could also draw data from social media platforms and online reviewing websites to provide insights into where a firm may need to focus its attention to improve public relations and client care.
Monitoring reviews and social media is certainly something that firms do on a regular basis, but the use of AI could again expedite the process and pull all of the data together for a firm to access in one place.
Summary
All in all, AI does seem to have the potential to provide invaluable assistance for lawyers. If the correct balance is struck between AI and the workforce, it could certainly be used to allow firms and their staff to operate more efficiently and effectively by processing higher volumes of information more quickly in all areas of the business.
It could automate and deal with more time-consuming and repetitive tasks to make firms and businesses more profitable in the long run.
I think the important thing to remember at this stage is that, despite the rather misleading name, AI does not think and assess as humans do, but rather processes data pulled from a system. These programmes at present certainly are no substitute for an acute legal mind.
I could see more and more personal injury firms using AI in the capacity of a support role sooner, rather than as an alternative to lawyers, so that they are free to focus on more complex tasks.
Nevertheless, striking the right balance is key. I, for one, am interested in seeing how this area develops and is incorporated into firms in the coming years.
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