A survey carried out by data firm LexisNexis has found that almost half of respondents believe that generative artificial intelligence (AI) will substantially impact the practice of law.

Generative AI is technology that is capable of generating text, images or other media.

The LexisNexis survey covered 7,950 lawyers, law students and clients in the US, Britain, France and Canada.

It found that 47% of respondents thought that generative AI would have a ‘significant or transformative’ impact on the practice of law.

Another 45% believed that it would have some impact, while only 7% believed that the technology would have no impact.

Research

The research found that 60% of in-house lawyers expected law firms to use technology such as generative AI, with only 10% who disagreeing. Just over half of law firms agreed that their corporate clients would expect them to use such tools, while only 17% disagreed.

Lawyers saw the highest potential for generative AI tools to assist them in researching matters (65%), while other important potential uses included drafting documents (56%), document analysis (44%), and email writing (35%).

According to LexisNexis, almost 90% of lawyers have at least some concerns about the ethical implications of generative AI on the practice of law, with one-third citing ‘significant or fundamental’ concerns regarding ethical implications.

“This finding points to a need for legal professionals to work with trusted and ethical companies as they begin to use generative AI solutions in their work,” the data company said.