Written by: Montserrat Viñals Prestol
DMK Abogados
According to Bill Gates, Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) will change the way we work and live within a 5-year timeframe. The cofounder of Microsoft sustains that the development of AI is so fundamental as was the creation of the Internet, which completely shifted the way we communicate and interact with our clients forever. In the annual letter “The Year Ahead” which is published by the Gates Foundation, 2024 will be the year that will change the world of technology and health, and AI will have a lot, if not all, to do with it.
2023 was transcendental for AI, and transitions will be interesting to see since uncertain times await us concerning the limitations or restrictions that should be applied to AI so that things don’t go completely haywire. In the absence of a robust legal framework, AI may negatively impact societies, generating damages and losses to third parties due to malicious uses, and even provoking job losses, among other problems. Moreover, companies that develop these types of technologies also see this as a cause for concern. Despite this, many are already making use of AI in the provision of their services, creating a faster and more efficient way to attend to clients´ needs and requests.
In the Dominican Republic, specifically in the public sector, many institutions have incorporated the use of AI on their webpages using Chatboxes where the user can easily be guided by a Virtual Assistant and be able to obtain information on procedures or information about the institution. Recently, the Constitutional Court incorporated “Patria”, an intelligent chatbot that guides you through the consultation of the High Court´s rulings and other important data.
Furthermore, the Dominican government has also given special emphasis on helping the country become an AI Regional Hub, with the primary goal of leading innovations in Latin America and the Caribbean. Proof of this is the recent launch of the AI National Strategy, which was created to stimulate these objectives.
In the legal field, AI is used more and more by law professionals to analyze agreements and being able to identify the key clauses in their legal documents in an automated manner. Some of the most used AI solutions by law firms are Natural Language Processing (NLP), Machine Learning, and Legal Virtual Assistants. These tools facilitate the prediction of case scenarios, by analyzing legal patterns and identifying key aspects of a legal document. In addition, it allows the client to obtain quick answers to high-level questions using a Chatbot when a human resource is not available.
I am a firm believer that generative AI shall not substitute lawyers; we don’t see it possible, at least not anytime soon. The approach should be the capacity of AI to increase the effectiveness of a legal professional since it significantly reduces the time invested in analyzing a complex situation or case. This is the aggregate value for the attorney. In this regard, law firms should adopt the role of training the attorney and providing the space for them to be at the forefront to combine AI with their professional knowledge and education, achieving the necessary balance.
An example of successful AI use in the legal sector is the case of DLA Piper. This law firm associated with Kira System in 2023 to implement AI for the due diligence processes for M&A transactions, by using machine learning technology. This not only allowed the firm to quickly solve a very tedious task, but it also allowed the firm to be in contact with their clients in a quicker fashion in cases where time difference is an issue.
Notwithstanding the positive AI uses, we are aware that the lack of a legal framework represents important obstacles that still have not been able to be solved, in addition to the high costs involved in AI implementation for companies. It will be interesting to see how the AI National Strategy can contribute to companies getting on the wave of digital transformation, as well as provide tax incentives for its implementation.
Finally, we asked Chat GPT what it thinks about AI and its use for legal services, and its answer was:
“AI can significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of legal services through the automation of repetitive tasks, real-time processing, and providing insights or opinions on certain data or information that is supplied to the AI tool. In a general sense, AI can help lawyers achieve high-quality service while being cost and time efficient.”
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