As practice group leader of a large (70 -lawyer) e-discovery group, I am frequently asked whether artificial intelligence will replace human lawyers. My favorite answer is "No – but lawyers who use AI will be replacing those who don't." Full disclosure – I did not come up with that answer. The first time I heard it was at a Cowen Café event, hosted by The Cowen Group, featuring thought leaders from in-house legal departments, outside law firms, and legal solution providers. While it is a pithy answer, I think it is probably accurate.

One of the very hot topics so far in 2017 is artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential disruptive impact on the legal profession. Questions ranging from, "Will AI replace lawyers?" to "Does it make sense to attend law school with the rise of AI?" to "How will AI impact the delivery, cost, and quality of legal services?" IN FACT, THE INTERSECTION OF AI AND THE LAW HAS recently captured the attention of major media outlets including The New York Times ("A.I. is Doing Legal Work. In addition, nowadays you would be hardpressed to attend a legal conference without a session, panel, or presentation on AI. This article reviews the basics of AI, key use cases for AI in the legal profession, some primary AI-related legal issues, and steps that your law firm or in-house legal department may want to take to become AI-ready. In his book "The Fourth Industrial Revolution,"3 Klaus Schwab, executive chairman and founder of The World Economic Forum, begins by briefly reviewing the three earlier industrial revolutions that transformed our society and then devotes the remainder of the book to describing how our world recently entered a whole new era in which we will witness unprecedented major and rapid technological innovations. AI has the potential to be a disruptive force in our "Fourth Industrial Revolution." Like many newer and transformational technologies, there is no uniform definition for AI. An October 2016 report issued by the White House called "Preparing for the Future of Artificial Intelligence" states the following: "Some define AI loosely as a computerized system that exhibits behavior that is commonly thought of as requiring intelligence.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is just beginning to come into its own in terms of its use by lawyers and within the legal industry. Within the next few years, we will find ourselves on the cusp of a revolution in the practice of law led by the adoption of artificial intelligence -- in particular, by in-house lawyers. Much like email changed the way we do business every day, AI will become ubiquitous -- an indispensable assistant to practically every lawyer. Those who do not adopt and embrace the change will get left behind. Those who do will ultimately find themselves freed up to do the two things there always seems to be too little time for: thinking and advising.