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24 March 2023 / Roger Smith
Issue: 8018 / Categories: Opinion , Technology , Artificial intelligence , Legal services , Cyber
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ChatGPT: Time to get on board?

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We should seize the opportunities presented by new models of artificial intelligence to improve the provision of legal advice, says Roger Smith

You will have heard of ChatGPT. Media coverage and public awareness has been extraordinary. It gained one million users within five days of its launch in November last year. Since then, it has rarely been out of the news. By February, Henry Kissinger and his co-writers in the Wall Street Journal were heralding it as ‘an intellectual revolution’ comparable to the Gutenberg Bible.

For those in legal tech, there is little surprising perhaps in ChatGPT: much of what it can do is already available in existing products. The potentially revolutionary impact on the law probably lies in its use of ordinary language. This is a sophisticated chatbot that can talk directly with ordinary people. So, what potential is there for products like this in the world of legal aid and access to justice?

Worth the hype?

ChatGPT is just one of a number of new-generation

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Recent allegations surrounding Peter Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor have reignited scrutiny of the ancient common law offence of misconduct in public office. Writing in NLJ this week, Simon Parsons, teaching fellow at Bath Spa University, asks whether their conduct could clear a notoriously high legal hurdle
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