Artificial Intelligence: Imagining the Possibilities in Litigation (Perspective)

Recent headlines about Artificial Intelligence (AI) flooding legal press in recent months with accompanying images of human-like robotic associates have many lawyers asking: will AI really take our jobs? And the follow up: can Siri or Alexa help me quickly research basic legal principles? My short answers are currently "no," and "not quite yet." The answer to the former is not likely to change; the answer to the latter is subject to change at any moment. In the meantime, my discussions around AI, or cognitive computing, and its place in the law, as well as my recent transfer from litigation partner to innovation partner, have allowed me to reach some (preliminary) observations about it all, and preview where I think the technology can and should be going in the practice of law – particularly, for the purposes of this article, litigation.