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Getting AI ready

18 May 2018 / Jan Hoffmeister
Issue: 7793 / Categories: Features , Profession , Technology
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Jan Hoffmeister on how advances in artificial intelligence can benefit the legal profession

This year has seen a sharp rise in the world’s interest in artificial intelligence (AI), making it increasingly difficult for the legal sector to ignore the potential disruption it could undergo because of this new phenomenon. Although there are many ways of defining the new technology, AI in its simplest form is the ‘the development of technological systems able to perform tasks that would normally require human intelligence’.

Despite operating in a traditionally conservative sector that many consider to be averse to emerging technologies, several law firms have begun bracing themselves for change resulting from AI rather than risk being left behind. Dentons is more than just a global firm with an ever-expanding presence. It is also highly innovative. With the launch of Nextlaw Labs in 2015, considerable investment has been made in several new technologies, including start-up ROSS Intelligence.

The software, which comes in the form of an app and is powered by IBM Watson, uses natural language processing (NLP)

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NEWS
Ceri Morgan, knowledge counsel at Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP, analyses the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Johnson v FirstRand Bank Ltd, which reshapes the law of fiduciary relationships and common law bribery
The boundaries of media access in family law are scrutinised by Nicholas Dobson in NLJ this week
Reflecting on personal experience, Professor Graham Zellick KC, Senior Master of the Bench and former Reader of the Middle Temple, questions the unchecked power of parliamentary privilege
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James Grice, head of innovation and AI at Lawfront, explores how artificial intelligence is transforming the legal sector
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