Ashurst: “The speed at which organisations are adopting generative AI technology (GenAI) shows no sign of slowing. Business leaders in every industry are seeking to identify the best use cases for GenAI and where it can add the most value to their organisations. This is as true in law firms as it is in other industries. At Ashurst, our focus has been on taking this a step beyond use case identification and value prediction to truly understanding and also measuring how GenAI might impact the way we work and serve our clients. From November 2023 to March 2024, Ashurst’s Office of the Chief Digital Officer (the CDO team) led three global GenAI trials involving 411 partners, lawyers and staff representing all of our practice areas and business services functions across 23 offices in 14 countries in our global network. Through the trials, we sought to prove or disprove a series of working hypotheses concerning whether, how and how much our people would engage with and find value in GenAI. The trials were designed to capture a mix of qualitative and quantitative assessment data through a blind study, controlled experiments with small groups of participants, and feedback surveys, giving our people a voice in how GenAI could benefit them. Outcomes were achieved using only publicly available data, not client data, and by adopting rigorous guardrails throughout. Our findings uncovered five key insights:

1. Value: The initial value of GenAI for legal is in helping lawyers create first drafts quicker and more efficiently.
2. Accuracy: GenAI-generated output can be difficult to distinguish from human output when legally correct.
3. Quality: Quality in a legal context is multidimensional, with subjective and objective elements.
4. Scope: Beyond legal and client work, GenAI can make day-to-day life easier and help people feel more prepared for the future.
5. Adoption: The ‘jagged frontier‘ of AI in the legal industry needs clarification to derive value..”