In An AI World, It Might Be Good To Be A Lawyer

An AI Just Defeated Human Fighter Pilots in An Air Combat Simulator. The more that AI machine learning computers are advanced, the more that I am glad I am in the legal profession. Not only will we get to litigate all the many issues that will crop up in the use of AI, from drone litigation to litigation over the rights of thinking machines; but, it is going to be really impossible for machines to duplicate the emotional, irrational human beings required to navigate the legal world. The practice of law is more art than science, and nothing requires more human judgment. Jet plane pilots, on the other hand, depend upon many physical factors that can be duplicated by machines, and the defeat of human pilots by an AI computer in a simulation makes this clear. The practice of law is much more than an intellectual exercise, and combines human factors with psychology, social factors, and just plain human interaction that most of us require to stay sane and to navigate the world. Need advice? Call a lawyer, not a computer. 

Comments

[Cheryl Niemeier]

I largely agree that AI will not fully replace lawyers. However, there are many tasks in the legal profession that AI can certainly and will likely take over (i.e. document review, contract analysis, etc.).