Using AI Means You Work the Same, or Longer

A survey by Artificial Lawyer shows that the arrival of AI means we work either the same hours as before, or we work even longer. Which then raises the question: what is AI for?

A sample of 240 people, primarily working as lawyers and/or in legal tech, responded that since they started using AI tools 42% now work more than before, and 50% worked about the same. Only 7% specifically stated they now worked less since LLMs became ubiquitous.

Why?

It was probably naïve to believe that those working in the ever-growing sector of commercial law would have less work to do. Likewise, legal tech is going through a massive growth curve, largely driven by AI adoption. Neither are environments that let you go home early.

But, surely if AI removes the process work, then we get more time back?

True. We do.

But, what happens with that time? That is the key question. Here’s some thoughts:

The legal sector – as with any complex system – doesn’t just go into reverse because parts of it become more efficient. In fact, it’s highly likely that it becomes busier, because more matters can now be handled as every ‘node’ in the ecosystem becomes more capable and can ‘transmit’ back more information within this system. In short, aggregate activity increases, not decreases. Less friction = more volume.
A more negative take is that AI is causing more corrective work, i.e. the need for checking veracity and appropriateness by more senior people. So, those who manage junior lawyers and staff now have to work longer to quality check what comes through. This is certainly happening, although AL doesn’t really believe this is the number one cause. The main cause is as above: system efficiency makes the system busier.
Macro effects are also there that may have little to do with AI. The commercial legal world has been in a ‘boom’ since the 1980s and shows no sign of slowing down. Only the 2008/9 crash really had any lasting impact. The world’s population is rapidly expanding, global trade and supply chains (of all types) become more entrenched and more complex, regulation of this activity domestically and internationally expands as well – there is no country on the planet that has a reducing number of laws. And developing nations…..become more developed, which leads to new investment, companies, trade and more. And, AI is adding to this activity, but the world is simply more active, and that creates more legal work. I.e. AI tools that most people can use have arrived and adds to the mix, but the world was on an upward activity trend regardless.
Law firms operate on the billable hour. If you do X project faster, you still need to generate enough hours. You are not going home early. Inhouse teams don’t have the same time problem, but working hours are still long and efficiency gains just mean they will end up handling more volume – as noted above. And for legal tech folks, having AI tools that allow you – and your competitors – to produce new features in days, rather than months, just speeds up the business and increases demands on everyone from engineers to marketing to keep pace. In short: yes, everyone is more productive, more stuff gets done, but few people go home early.

What Does This Mean?

The dream has been that ‘AI means we get to work on higher value needs’. And that may be happening for some people. Equally, many lawyers and legal tech folks are simply experiencing ‘more’.

As noted, demand is rising, efficiency allows for more projects to be initiated, the crushing of some process work does not always mean a project completes faster – as other aspects that are harder to make efficient may expand. The net result is that many people either work the same, or even longer.

Which then leads to an even bigger question: if AI doesn’t reduce the time and energy we put into our work, and we work the same hours, or longer, then what is it all for?

AL would say that we each have to take a look at our lives and consider what has changed and whether what we want for ourselves has changed.

AI does allow people to create lifestyles that are not so overwhelming in terms of time spent on ‘busy work’. But, it is up to individuals to create better lifestyles out of those benefits. If you become more efficient and work in an organisation that ‘will always want more’ from you, then you simply become more productive. That’s good for the organisation, which will make more revenue, and it’s good for the economy, which will see productivity increase. Is it good for you? You have to make the decision whether you want to ‘work smarter’ with AI, or just work longer.

Does life get better, even if you work the same, or longer?

Perhaps, if you get to focus on the types of work that you like the most, then that is a yes. If you are simply doing ‘more’, but now almost overwhelmed by the volume of ‘stuff’ you need to oversee because AI has made the world so much busier, then maybe life is not better.

Conclusion

Increasingly, we are starting to see that AI has changed the productivity side of humanity, but judgment – the truly human part that has to digest the increasing volume of information and tasks – has not been able to keep pace.

Of course, one path is to reduce the judgment we put into our work, and ‘just let it go’. But, that route doesn’t end well. So, we are going to have to find ways to increase our capacity for ‘judgment work’, even as efficiency gains from AI continue to amplify what can be produced.

The evolutionary story of human productivity is not finished yet.

Richard Tromans, Founder, Artificial Lawyer

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Many thanks to everyone who took part in the survey. You can see it on LinkedIn here.

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