Somewhat related to the recent news that Thomson Reuters is teaming up with IBM’s Watson to deliver “cognitive computing services” to clients (which presumably includes law firms), a recent survey by legal consultant Altman Weil found that 35% of law firm leaders believe it may be feasible to replace some associates with Artificial Intelligence within 5 to 10 years. The survey also found that nearly half of those queried believe AI super-computers may be able to replace paralegals within the same time frame. Faith in the power of AI varied according to law firm size with a greater percentage of large law firm leaders believing they will be able to replace associates with technology compared to small law firm leaders (the Altman Weil survey covered law firms ranging from 50 attorneys to those with more than 1,000). You can read the full survey report from Altman Weil here covering a wide range of topics related to current perceptions about the state of the profession while The American Lawyer has a nice summary along with additional commentary here. An excerpt:

Computer vs. Lawyer? Many Firm Leaders Expect Computers to Win

Junior lawyers are used to feeling like cogs in a machine. According to a new report, a surprising number of law firm leaders expect to be able to replace them with actual machines—and soon.

In a large-scale survey released this month, 35 percent of law firm leaders said they could envision replacing first-year associates with law-focused computer intelligence within the next five to 10 years. That’s up from less than a quarter of respondents who gave the same answer in 2011.

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