English 
Norsk 
Polski 
Lietuvių kalba 
In a world where technology is evolving at a record pace, it's important to keep up to date with the latest advances and hot topics in artificial intelligence. HAI, the AI group at Halvorsen & Co, focuses on promoting the safe and effective use of artificial intelligence in the hectic everyday lives of lawyers. We also want to share the knowledge we have accumulated.
As part of this commitment, on 12 February this year we participated in an exciting course «Legal tech: AI for lawyers». Topics covered included the status and trends of legal tech in Norway, what lawyers should know about generative AI and the regulation of artificial intelligence. In this article, we share some of the key insights from the course.
AI won't replace lawyers, but lawyers who don't use AI will be replaced
One of the speakers stated that «AI won't replace lawyers, but lawyers who don't use AI will be replaced.», when talking about the importance of artificial intelligence for today's legal practitioners. The quote suggests that we are in a time characterised by widespread innovative change occurring at great speed.
It is fair to say that it is not a requirement for all to utilise AI, but rather an encouragement to explore how you can integrate it into your business.
Status and trends for legal tech in Norway
The big trend in legal technology right now is generative Artificial intelligence. Generative artificial intelligence are models designed to create new content in the form of written text, audio, images or videos, so-called language models.
One of the areas where generative AI can be useful is in legal counselling. However, unlike in the US, for example, Norwegian legal databases are not organised so that other players can use them.
When using AI in connection with legal questions, the systems must have sufficient training data to provide accurate answers. This means, for example, that they have access to all relevant literature and all relevant judgements within an area. In comparison, a prerequisite for getting a good answer to a legal question from a human being is that they have read relevant case law and literature. This also applies to artificial intelligence. Without access to Norwegian legal sources, it is impossible to utilise the full potential of the new innovative tools, such as creating applications based on Norwegian legal language models.
Another challenge is de-identification, which means that the identification of individuals is made difficult. Someone has to carry out this de-identification. Finally, when using artificial intelligence, source criticism is important to assess the quality of the answers.
These are issues that have recently been debated in various media platforms. Those who have discussed them believe that the solution lies with politicians. In order to promote new technology, access to public data is required, so that, for example, Lovdata can be made available to everyone. Such a scheme will require government funding. It remains to be seen whether there will be any changes in this area.
What should lawyers know about generative AI and how can it be used in everyday work?
There are applications that specialise in understanding documents, and applications that are particularly good at creating summaries of texts. This diversity of generative AI gives us a wide range of tools to handle different tasks and needs.
The language model guesses the next likely word based on context. The reason large language models seem to have so much factual knowledge is that they have a large vocabulary and predict what is the next likely word based on the information they have access to. This gives the illusion of knowledge.
As lawyers, we produce text by using our language. But what can a model like generative artificial intelligence do that we're not already doing today?
Generative AI can be used as an assistant in practical legal work and help us create memos, contracts, presentations, etc. AI can also translate legal texts, perform source searches or fact-finding, create summaries, etc. The applications for generative AI in the legal field are enormous, and the technology is likely to continue to evolve. It's exciting to think about how we can take advantage of this technology to improve our legal work!
When using generative artificial intelligence, it is crucial to understand how to express yourself. This concept is called «prompting» and refers to the user's input to the model. A typical prompt often consists of instructions and a command or question. How we formulate our questions or instructions can affect the responses we get from the application. It is therefore important to have good guidelines for how we ask for information.
It's important to note that there is no absolute formula for how to fart. What provides the best outcome can vary depending on the context, the task and the specific AI model used. We haven't yet fully explored the potential of this technology, so there is no universal recipe for optimal farting.
However, there are important considerations to take into account when using generative AI. Language models can manipulate and generate content based on previous training. That's why it's crucial to be critical when assessing the results. We must always quality-assure the information provided by the model. Furthermore, language models are trained on data up to a certain point in time. It's important to be aware of this and ensure that the application is always updated with recent data.
Furthermore, we should never enter information that can identify individuals. This is particularly important in terms of privacy.
Regulation of artificial intelligence
There is a big difference between artificial intelligence, and both specific systems for narrow use and advanced systems with multiple applications are covered. When regulating artificial intelligence, a balance must constantly be struck between risks and benefits. This year, an Artificial Intelligence Regulation (the «AI Regulation») was adopted to ensure the development and use of these systems. Digdir has also published guidelines for the responsible use and development of artificial intelligence.
Generative AI gives us incredible opportunities, but it's important to use it with care and understanding. To use generative AI effectively, we should have some expertise in the field. Experience and understanding of the technology helps us get the best possible results. It's therefore important to be curious and exploratory.
Contact person
Rugile Lapinskaite
Contact us
