Chief Justice John Roberts said AI will put pressure on everyone, from prospective law students to judges.
The legal profession will change as a result, Roberts said. His advice is that future lawyers will need to be “pretty nimble” in response to how AI alters the industry. He said he still hopes that “good people” continue to enter the field.
“The job of both young lawyers and partners is going to change,” Roberts said during a public appearance at Rice University on Tuesday evening. “And I think people, and I certainly hope good people, continue to go into law, but they’re going to have to be pretty nimble to change in response to those.”
Roberts’ comments come as multiple AI startups compete over the future of corporate law and the estimated $1 trillion legal market. Harvey, the biggest name in the space, already has a valuation above $8 billion.
AI firms in general and startups in the legal space are continuing to work to weed out hallucinations, to try to prevent lawyers from citing made-up cases. Roberts said that “AI will make mistakes, but so do young lawyers. “
The nation’s chief justice expressed particular concern for “the types of pressures” young lawyers may face as AI advances to the point that it can complete tasks traditionally reserved for junior associates.
“I think it’s going to be really tough for young lawyers,” he said. “Four or five years out, AI is going to be — a partner’s going to come to you and say, ‘I need you to analyze this statute and how it’s been treated.’ If AI is going to give an answer in three minutes, it’s going to take the young lawyer, who knows, three days more than that. “
Roberts said he’s also worried about how judges like himself might be affected by AI. He appears to remain behind his 2023 prediction that “human judges will be around for a while, but AI pressures are about more than just job displacement.
“One thing that worries me, for example, you can put records in cases into the computer and tell AI who should win, whether it’s under the law of Nebraska or law generally, it’ll come out, and it’ll give you an answer,” he said. “Based on this record, 68% of the time, the plaintiff will win. Now, if you’re a judge and you get the same sort of case, there’s some pressure, isn’t there? I want to be right, 68% more likelihood of being right.”
As for himself, Roberts, a self-described “dinosaur when it comes to the technology,” said he’ll mostly rely on his clerks to keep him abreast of AI advancements. He also has his two kids, both in their mid-20s, whom he said love playing around with it. Roberts said his son, Jack, showed him how he used AI to create a song about the family’s dog visiting the Supreme Court.
“And so he goes, ‘Write a song about a little dog named Jojo who goes to the court where his owner is the chief justice.’ He says, ‘And do it in rap.’ Like that,” he said.
The chief justice was utterly amazed.
“I mean, how do they do that?” he said. The song comes out, ‘Jojo, go, the court.’ And then he says, ‘Okay, now do it in Country Western,’ different voice, same sort of thing. I remember whatever it is, and then, ‘Do it as an orchestra. Do it.’ And I’m just completely befuddled by how that can happen.”
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