The Significance Whether or not the reputation was deserved across the board, the legal industry has long been known to be behind the curve when it comes to technology adoption. With something as revolutionary as generative AI, the industry can no longer afford to be late movers who take a wait-and-see approach. Generative AI is already touching nearly every aspect of the legal industry. As developers and users continue to experiment with more use cases, its applicability will only grow. From administrative tasks to assisting with the performance of high-level legal work, we will eventually hit a point where failing to use generative AI, or at least consider it, will be unacceptable in terms of efficiency, competitive advantage and more. Moreover, while generative AI is the tech story of 2023, its implications run deeper. One of the biggest impacts of generative AI in legal so far that has gotten less attention is that its “cool factor” stirred up a more general interest in technology that had been long overdue. Generative AI’s entrance onto the legal scene ignited a larger sense of tech curiosity and awareness across the industry. The questions may have started as, “How do we use AI for that?” The answers, however, were often that we didn’t need AI for that. In fact, we’d had tech capabilities for a while now that could solve many of legal’s biggest problems—a lot of people were either just not paying attention or still too resistant to change to realize it. As we close out 2023, the legal industry is seeing an unprecedented technology renaissance. Years down the road, when we look back, we will see this as a year that forever changed how we practice law—ultimately for the better. The Information Want to know more? Here's what we've discovered in the ALM Global Newsroom: 2023: A Legal AI Odyssey Tracking Generative AI: How Evolving AI Models Are Impacting Legal The Artificial Intelligence Glossary GPT 101: Decoding ChatGPT's Generative AI for Legal Professionals Legal Enters Full Education Mode as Generative AI Strengthens Its Hold on the Industry Legal Gets Candid About How Gen AI Is Actually Being Used White House's AI Executive Order Opens the Door Wide to New Rules, Enforcement Actions The Forecast It was a roller coaster year for technology and innovation, but the legal industry has come out on the other end wiser for the experience and ready to embrace generative AI in a thoughtful, meaningful way to improve the profession. While 2023 was indeed a seminal year in legal technology, we’re only just getting started. Generative AI technology continues to develop at a breakneck pace. What seemed impressive this past year will soon be table stakes. Much of the past year’s developments were dominated by OpenAI, but now there are a number of competitors who are catching up and are poised to create significant disruption. And with the recent release of Google’s long-anticipated Gemini AI model, the game will potentially be turned on its head yet again. Legal technology in 2024 will likely be the best we’ve seen yet. | 