Finding the human-in-the-loop with AI drafting

Today’s AI is better at planning and executing legal brief writing than ever before. The best results, however, will come when a lawyer’s own legal reasoning and governance is applied to the AI writing process. On this episode, Thomson Reuters’ Valerie McConnell, runs listeners through how brief writing with AI should work, including ethical considerations, what human-in-the-loop practicality means, and the threshold lawyers should strive for when verifying AI output.

Why you should listen:‍

1. Better your own brief writing — The technology tools available to lawyers to aid their own brief writing process are getting better. However, as McConnell notes, a tool’s output is only as good as the input a lawyer offers, providing a space in which tech-savvy lawyers can stand out.
2. More than just speed — While many touted AI’s speed as its primary benefit back when generative AI was first introduced, today’s AI tools are much more complex. McConnell and Warren discuss how expectations around AI have evolved in recent years, and why augmenting and promoting legal reasoning is a value by-product of using legal AI today.
3. Verify your verification strategy — Much has been made about how users of AI need to verify their tool’s output, but exactly how to do that remains a mystery to some in the legal industry. McConnell walks the listener through what a hypothetical brief review process looks like and where some common pitfalls in lawyer review can occur.