Data visualization tools, desktop data discovery tools, and visual analytics are examples of traditional self-service BI tools that business analysts embrace because they provide a user-friendly way of quickly turning data into insights. These tools are geared toward business analysts that have the skills and knowledge to acquire the right data sets, perform the analysis, and present the insights needed to solve a business problem. Often, these data sets acquired by business analysts are not governed or managed by IT, but this is acceptable because business analysts have enough business knowledge to evaluate whether insights are reasonably accurate to address the business problem. Business analysts also have the skills to best present analysis in the form of beautiful charts and reports to make it easy for others in the business to interpret insights quickly for decision making. Machine-generated insights can remove business analysts entirely from the analytic process.

Meticulous research, deep study of case law, and intricate argument-building--lawyers have used similar methods to ply their trade for hundreds of years. But they'd better watch out, because artificial intelligence is moving in on the field. As of 2016, there were over 1,300,000 licensed lawyers and 200,000 paralegals in the U.S. Consultancy group McKinsey estimates that 22 percent of a lawyer's job and 35 percent of a law clerk's job can be automated, which means that while humanity won't be completely overtaken, major businesses and career adjustments aren't far off (see "Is Technology About to Decimate White-Collar Work?"). "If I was the parent of a law student, I would be concerned a bit," says Todd Solomon, a partner at the law firm McDermott Will & Emery, based in Chicago. "There are fewer opportunities for young lawyers to get trained, and that's the case outside of AI already. But if you add AI onto that, there are ways that is advancement, and there are ways it is hurting us as well."

Meticulous research, deep study of case law, and intricate argument-building--lawyers have used similar methods to ply their trade for hundreds of years. But they'd better watch out, because artificial intelligence is moving in on the field. As of 2016, there were over 1,300,000 licensed lawyers and 200,000 paralegals in the U.S. Research group McKinsey estimates that 22 percent of a lawyer's job and 35 percent of a law clerk's job can be automated, which means that while humanity won't be completely overtaken, major businesses and career adjustments aren't far off (see "Is Technology About to Decimate White-Collar Work?"). "If I was the parent of a law student, I would be concerned a bit," says Todd Solomon, a partner at the law firm McDermott Will & Emery, based in Chicago. "There are fewer opportunities for young lawyers to get trained, and that's the case outside of AI already. But if you add AI onto that, there are ways that is advancement, and there are ways it is hurting us as well."