Will AI replace lawyers? Assessing the potential of artificial intelligence in legal services

In May 1997, in a high-profile chess match held under tournament conditions, the reigning world champion, Garry Kasparov, took on Deep Blue, an IBM-developed computer, and lost. It was the first time that an artificial intelligence (AI) had defeated a world champion. The result received much coverage at the time and represented a triumph of late 20th century technology. The question of whether the practice of law exhibits an equivalent level of tactical dexterity to that of a chess match is not one to be answered here, and certainly not by a practising lawyer. But advances in AI, across many facets of life since the turn of the century, are undeniable.