Law students must have lawyer intelligence to use artificial intelligence.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has become pervasive in the lives of twenty-first-century citizens and is widely heralded as a tool that can enhance and advance all sectors of society. The legal sector is no exception. Though traditionally slower to adopt new technologies, the legal profession is now beginning to embrace AI, leading to shifts in how law is practiced. AI can significantly improve productivity and lawyer satisfaction.
For the foreseeable future, it is unlikely that AI will replace attorneys entirely. Some legal tasks are not amenable to AI assistance. That being said, it is likely that AI will soon perform much of the “rote and generic legal work of tomorrow.” In fact, one study estimated that 44 percent of legal tasks are susceptible to automation.
AI can now perform basic, monotonous tasks that do not require critical thinking and are customary in some areas of legal practice. Accordingly, as AI assumes a more prominent role, the importance of critical thinking skills among legal professionals becomes even more pronounced. Effective AI results largely depend on critical thinking. While AI excels at processing and analyzing vast amounts of data, it lacks the nuanced understanding and ethical judgment that are hallmarks of skilled legal practitioners. Critical thinking allows attorneys to move past simply accepting information at face value and instead to engage in deeper questioning and assessment, coming to conclusions based on evidence and logical reasoning.
Yet, at a point where integration of AI into the legal profession increases the need for robust critical thinking, there is a deficit in these skills among law students. This deficit in critical thinking ability hinders law students’ capacity to recognize and frame issues, read critically, interpret pertinent details, remove distractors, assess possible solutions, and determine likely consequences. Without these skills, law school graduates will not succeed in practice with AI. Fortunately, critical thinking can be taught.
Standing at the cusp of this technological revolution, it is crucial to examine the nature of AI and its potential impact on legal practice. This Essay posits that the critical thinking deficit has significant implications for law students and lawyers, given generative AI’s ability to handle a substantial portion of basic legal tasks. It argues that, as generative AI transforms the practice of law, law schools must prioritize the development of critical thinking skills in their students to prepare them for the realities of legal practice.
Part I introduces AI, focusing on generative AI, its role in the practice of law, and the resulting increased importance of critical thinking skills for young lawyers. Next, Part II provides an overview of critical thinking and its role in the practice of law. Finally, Part III posits that although law school graduates will need strong critical thinking skills in the era of generative AI, a deficit in these skills persists. Moreover, students’ use of AI on law school assessments may circumvent the learning and development of these necessary critical thinking and legal analysis abilities. As a result, law schools must take a more focused approach to developing critical thinking skills so graduates are prepared to succeed in a profession already transformed—and still evolving—because of generative AI.