1/4 of Young People Use AI For Their Legal Needs

A new survey of over 3,200 people has found that just over one quarter (26%) of 18 to 24 year olds have turned to AI when they had a legal problem. For those between 55 and 64 it was 10%. Emotional support from the AI systems was often a factor in their use.

People ‘commonly asked chatbots to explain legal jargon, check advice from lawyers, draft complaints and emails, and provide emotional reassurance’, the survey found.

And it must be a bit galling for some lawyers when they find out that their clients are using ChatGPT to check their advice….! I.e. they’d rather trust the AI than the lawyer.

The data from UK legal charity Justice, and the Administrative Fairness Lab, was collected between the end of last year and January 2026. It shows just how far AI is having an impact on the wider legal world, although AL has to say, this site would have assumed the vast majority of people of any age would use AI to help with a legal issue these days.

But, Google will tell you that only around 15 million people in the UK use, or have used, a tool such as ChatGPT – which is just under one quarter of the population. So, perhaps what this data really shows is this: if you regularly use AI tools, then you are likely to use LLMs to help with any legal issues you may have.

For example, an individual may use AI to help with general information about a landlord issue, but they may equally perform speculative legal research in relation to employment law.

The survey authors commented that: ‘Many sought AI help on common legal problems that largely fall outside the scope of legal aid, such as housing, employment, debt, consumer issues, and family law.‘

In short, society is turning to AI to do what regular human lawyers are there to provide – and it’s important to note the emotional reassurance point.

Now…..is that advice correct? Is it useful? Does it confuse the user?

As Justice put it: ‘Participants described feeling frightened about court proceedings, worried about losing their job, and overwhelmed by the uncertainty of ongoing disputes, for example. 

‘However, in seeking emotional as well as legal support from these chatbots, users may unwittingly be setting themselves up to receive less reliable advice. Evidence suggests designing chatbots to be friendly and warm makes them more likely to reinforce false beliefs, with the most vulnerable-sounding people eliciting the least accurate responses.’

And this goes to a very real problem we have now. AI has widened access to justice, at least in informational terms, and yet those outputs are not regulated.

This free support can also lead to companies and courts becoming overwhelmed with legal demands, some of which judges may see as ‘vexatious’ or simply invalid – and at a time when the courts face major backlogs and a lack of funding. (Note: LegalOn and AL will be holding a webinar that connects to this ‘legal flooding’ challenge for corporates: see here.)

On the flipside, more people now have a chance to get at least somewhere with a legal issue, where before they may have been stuck. It’s a finely balanced change to society’s fabric.

Ellen Lefley, Deputy Legal Director at Justice, commented: ‘The question is not whether AI becomes part of people’s legal journeys – it already is. This research provides a unique insight into who is using it and how. The challenge now is ensuring people receive reliable support, while addressing the unmet legal needs that drive some towards AI in the first place.’

And Dr Jed Meers, Administrative Fairness Lab co-director, added: ‘Rising demand across the courts and tribunals system has a complex set of drivers. What our research shows is that people are using these tools when they run into all kinds of legal problems and are already doing so in significant numbers. As the use of these tools grows, they’ll become an even more important part of the picture.’

Overall, we have entered a new world, and there is no going back.

More about the survey here.

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Come and join us in London this November 4th + 5th at Legal Innovators! The conference at the intersection of legal AI and the business of law. Day One: law firms, Day Two: inhouse.

Legal Innovators UK – London, Nov 4 and 5