Technology and the workplace have an interesting relationship. In 2024, most people cannot even conceptualize how to do their job without a robust tech stack or the help of ChatGPT. We're tethered to our screens and subscription-based software services, which significantly simplify our lives. However, in many industries, particularly in legal and government sectors, the adoption of newer technologies is still being contested.
Whether it's the undying skepticism that an online chatbot can't thoroughly analyze a 100+ page document within seconds or doubts regarding its ability to produce polished copy, the reception of AI-powered technology has been sluggish in the legal realm. Lawyers, a group of professionals trained to be risk-averse, are concerned about the ethics surrounding AI: whether it will maintain the integrity and confidentiality of their work on behalf of clients. In some offices, there is a prevailing fear that AI will soon replace some of the tasks currently performed by lawyers. Jake Heller, who earned his JD at Stanford Law School, expressed his thoughts on this matter, stating,
"I think some of the work that we do will be replaced. And by the way, that’s always been true of technology.”
Technology is continuously and simultaneously steepening the learning curve and improving workflows, uncovering shortcuts in traditional processes. When examining other industries, such as banking or accounting, technology has revolutionized firms' day-to-day activities and priorities.
“In the accounting profession, can you imagine what it would have been like before Excel? Where you have a literal sheet, a paper, a spreadsheet, and you had to hand tabulate. There’s was no click and drag the number down, no population, no formulas. You were just doing that all the time…people don’t do that anymore…they moved on from hand tabulating…[and now] accounting firms, the big four, last I heard, had more revenue than the top 100 law firms combined.”
While scary, the introduction of technology to the workplace has proved to be inevitable. In the case of Artificial Intelligence, we are in the midst of a boom, and the technology being developed today is allowing corporations to “move on to dramatically more interesting and important work.”
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