A recent study indicates that law students employing artificial intelligence (AI) in various legal writing tasks were able to complete their assignments more swiftly. However, the quality of their work product did not consistently surpass that of their peers who did not utilize AI technology.
The research, titled "Lawyering in The Age of Artificial Intelligence," conducted by two University of Minnesota law professors and a law professor at the University of Southern California, reveals that the advantages of AI, particularly GPT-4, vary depending on the abilities of the user and the nature of the legal work.
The study involved 60 Minnesota law students who underwent training on GPT-4 and completed four distinct writing assignments: drafting a complaint, a contract, a section of an employee handbook, and a client memo. While GPT-4 did not yield statistically significant improvements, it did result in "large and consistent decreases" in the time taken by students to complete assignments, particularly evident in a 32% reduction in time spent on drafting a complaint.
Interestingly, law students with lower grades experienced more significant improvements in their legal writing tasks when using GPT-4 compared to their higher-performing counterparts. The study suggests that generative AI could become a crucial tool for lawyers in the future, akin to established legal-tech tools like Westlaw, Lexis, and ediscovery software.
However, the study recommends that law schools prohibit the use of generative AI in core first-year courses and exams, citing the technology's disproportionate assistance to lower-performing students. Instead, the study encourages the development of upper-level courses that teach students how to effectively leverage artificial intelligence.
Comments