Following its release on 30 November 2022, ChatGPT has inspired a remarkable discourse around the benefits and risks of technology and innovation throughout 2023, especially regarding the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools. The Legal Services Board (LSB) has a long-standing programme of work in this area, supporting the objectives of the Reshaping Legal Services strategy to provide fairer outcomes, inspire stronger confidence in the legal sector, and ensure the provision of better services. However, the rapid development and uptake in the use of AI tools has accelerated the need for regulators to negotiate the balancing act between:
- Fostering a regulatory environment that is open to and supports innovation.
- Creating effective and clear guardrails to mitigate or avoid risks, including possible consumer harms.
- Keeping up with rapid technological advancements, including AI.
Over the past year we have been engaging with key stakeholders including regulators, law firms, academics, and technology providers and innovators across the legal and technology sectors to better understand the realities of, and potential solutions to, this balancing act. Some of the national and international sector events we attended in 2023 includes:
- The Fifth Edition of the Athens Roundtable
- ‘Connecting the Dots: How Better Conversations Accelerate Lawtech Adoption’, hosted by City of London Corporation
- ‘Cybercrime: Understanding AI and protecting your firm’, part of the SRA’s Compliance Officers Virtual Conference 2023
- AI Standards Forum for UK Regulators
- LawtechUK GenerativeAI event
- Westminster Business Forum’s ‘Next steps for regulating emerging technology in the UK’
- Westminster Legal Policy Forum’s ‘The future for AI in legal services’
At these events, the following solutions were highlighted to help regulators navigate the future of the legal industry in a rapidly changing technological environment.
Purpose-Driven Adoption
Legal services are integral to society, and where technology like AI can provide better, quicker, and more cost-effective legal services, it is the responsibility of the legal sector to adopt and implement these solutions responsibly. At the centre of adoption needs to be the public interest, and ensuring consumers’ needs and safety are prioritised. By leading technology adoption in this way, the legal sector can maximise its ability to harness the potential opportunities while mitigating the risks.
Effective Collaboration
Dialogue around technology and innovation must be multidisciplinary, drawing on the knowledge and expertise of legal professionals, policy makers, technology developers, data scientists and more. The diversity and quality of insight from a wide range of stakeholders will aid in finding the balance between fostering innovation, creating guardrails to mitigate risk, and keeping up with technological advancements.
However, the potential power imbalance between small-medium sized law firms and technology developers due to financial, technological and staff resource disparities was also highlighted, and its possibly negative impact on the adoption of lawtech. Stronger support from regulators in shaping these conversations could help level the playing field.
Technology is a piece of the puzzle
Whilst the role of technology is growing, it is just a piece of the puzzle in addressing the issues facing the legal sector – not the entire solution. For the potential consumer benefits to be realised, technology cannot be layered on top of poor human processes. To get the most out of this new source of solutions, it is necessary that the sector continues to work collaboratively and strive to provide high quality legal services at all levels. Only then can it identify where technology can best improve access to justice for consumers and address unmet legal need.
The LSB will shortly be publishing new guidance which sets clear outcomes for regulators to achieve, aimed at supporting a regulatory environment which is proactively open to technology and innovation. It intends to support balancing the risks and benefits of the use of lawtech, as well as its potential to improve access to legal services and address unmet need.
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