2016 will be remembered as the year when legal AI and advanced automation went from being a subject for conference discussions about ‘the future’ and became something very real in the eyes of the market, and perhaps most importantly something that law firms were actually using for client work.

AI and advanced automation, at least as theories, have been around since the 1950s and such pioneers as Marvin Minsky and Norbert Wiener were some of the leading lights in these fields back then. But, the fact that AI has a long and historical backstory doesn’t diminish the fact that at the start of this year the idea of large numbers of law firms actually making use of legal AI systems, as opposed to just talking about the subject, was not really ‘a thing’ yet.

But, wow, what a difference a year makes. Looking back on 2016, as the year draws to a close, it feels like we have entered a new era. So, what has happened?

The Break Out Year

What then happened this year, 2016, was unsettling to some even if it had been flagged up for more than a decade. For a long time, some might say since the late 1990s, a small group of pioneers had helped to develop the thinking around the use of automation and computing in the law, such as Richard Susskind, and had been preparing people for the arrival of technology such as AI.

Many legal sector commentators and academics had grown used to regular debates such as ‘will AI mean the end of lawyers?’, ‘will legal AI systems arrive by 2030?’ or ‘will clients want their lawyers to use AI?’

Talking about it was very comfortable. But, all that seemed suddenly…how can one put it? It all seemed academic now. Legal AI was here now and it was real. Moreover, not only were law firms adopting it, the clients were paying for its services. The new era of legal AI had well and truly begun.

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