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Aussies uncomfortable with lawyers using AI, survey finds
Artificial intelligence may be all the rage right now, but that doesn’t mean those in the community are thrilled at the prospect of lawyers using such technology in their work.
Jerome Doraisamy
Global practice management software provider Dye & Durham has just released its Australian Market Pulse Report, which surveyed over 1,600 Australian adults, in early September, on their perceptions of the economy, technology, and property.
Just under one in four (23 per cent) of respondents were somewhat or very comfortable with the idea of lawyers utilising AI, and three in 10 (29 per cent) were neither comfortable nor uncomfortable.
The findings provide extensive coverage, including from Lawyers Weekly, on the extent to which legal professionals – both domestically and globally – see the use of AI as paramount to the future of practice. Almost all lawyers see AI as crucial for merger and acquisition, for example, while one in three in-house legal teams plan to use AI to reduce costs.
This said, Australians also have issues with other professionals using AI in their work.
Only 27 per cent of those surveyed are comfortable with real estate agents using AI, and just 22 per cent said the same for doctors and other health professionals, while 19 per cent expressed some level of comfort at the idea of AI use by financial planners, advisers, tax agents, and mortgage brokers.
Prospective clients’ reasons for being sceptical about AI use by lawyers will, of course, be varied. However, one potential conclusion to draw is that – like some lawyers – a lack of understanding of the potential of AI for practice methodology and, ultimately, client service delivery may feed into current lukewarm perceptions.
Reflecting on the findings, Dye & Durham Australian managing director Dennis Barnhart said that AI is not currently a priority for many Australians.
“Only a third of Australians have tried AI, and most of them have only experimented with it once or twice,” he explained.
“About half the population expressed discomfort with AI being used in professional settings, which reflects its novelty.”
Three in five (59 per cent) of respondents noted they have never used AI for personal reasons, and two-thirds (64 per cent) have not done so in a professional setting. Fifty-three per cent have never used AI for any reason.
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly. A former lawyer, he has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. He is also the host of all five shows under The Lawyers Weekly Podcast Network, and has overseen the brand's audio medium growth from 4,000 downloads per month to over 60,000 downloads per month, making The Lawyers Weekly Show the most popular industry-specific podcast in Australia. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of Minds Count.
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