The Impact Of Artificial Intelligence On The Legal Profession In Nigeria

 THE IMPACT OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ON THE LEGAL PROFESSION IN NIGERIA.

Ayomide Omogbemi

Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo state

The word “artificial” simply means something made or created by a human, something that does not occur naturally but is a product of man's creativity.

 "Intelligence,” according to Alfred Binet, is the ability to judge well, understand well, and reason well. It is commonly referred to as the“ Faculty of Wisdom.”.

Weighing on this Artificial intelligence is the simulation of human intelligence possessed by machines, especially computer systems. It is the effort of human creativity that results in making advanced machines with human functions and also the ability to perform these functions faster than normal human beings.

Artificial intelligence has become a substantial part of the world as well as in the lives of the people who dwell in it. As most people now rely on artificial intelligence to make their day-to-day affairs easy and smooth, And this is inclusive of most of the professions in Nigeria, which now make use of this for a stress-free and faster result in their various professions, including the legal profession.

Artificial intelligence has impacted the Nigerian legal space within a short period of time, helping to make tasks completed within a short period of time easily. Some of the positive impacts that artificial intelligence has on the legal profession include:

1. LEGAL RESEARCH

As a legal practitioner, doing legal research is inevitable; in fact, it is one of the most common and important tasks of lawyers, law students, and judges. The essence of conducting research is to keep a legal practitioner updated on the new legal precedents and amended parts of the constitution. I dare to say a lawyer who doesn’t make research lives in the age of the ‘ancients'.

Unfortunately, legal research has proven to be one of the most challenging and sensitive tasks in the legal profession. A single omission could cause a whole error. And fortunately AI based tools had proved to be very effective in making legal research as they simplify and make the whole task very easy and stress free. AI-based tool Some AI-powered network-based tools have assumed the role of performing very fast and automatic quick research, even much fastert han humans, and most lawyers nowadays, rather than undergoing the stressful task of making manual research, switch to the automatic ones provided by artificial intelligence.

2. Document Review and Contract Analysis

Document reviewing and contract analysis are also two of the most important tasks of a legal practitioner. While most legal practitioners take to doing this manually, AI developers and scientists have come up with AI-based tools that help simplify tasks regarding these as they make it easy and they are also able to recognize relevant information, thereby saving time and reducing risks at the same time. This newly developed tool can also help with the task of analyzing documents and reduce labor time and error while “pointing" to important clauses that may require attention at the same time.

 In a situation where Mr. Aliu, a partner of Company A, has to draft a document involving Company A and another company, he can make use of computers and other AI-based tools to help him quickly draft a "advantage" document between Company A and the other company.

It can also perform the task of helping a lawyer predict cases while recognizing the risk and coming up with a strategy to overcome all these risks. For instance, in a situation where Barrister A has to take over a complicated case that he hasn’t taken before, he can resort to the use of AI to help him predict risks and also help him strategize against them at the same time.

It can also help a lawyer to analyze his or her heavy and tight schedule while also helping him or her to make time for himself or herself to focus on more complex legal tasks requiring human labour and to be productive, accurate, and efficient in the legal profession.

However, despite the advantageous impact artificial intelligence has on the legal profession, it still has its side effects on legal practitioners. And some of its defects are:

A. RELIANCE

It can make a lawyer too dependent on artificial intelligence. And most times, when AI-based tools are not updated and they are used by lawyers who are too dependent on them, they are liable to make inaccurate, inefficient, and outdated judgments, which can cause “expensive"errors and make a dent in the lawyer’s career.

B. LACK OF EMOTIONS

Since artificial intelligence is a machine despite being programmed by humans, it lacks emotion and sympathy, which can be disadvantageous for cases that need compassionate and emotional approaches.

C. LOWER CHAIN CUT OFF

Since AI-based tools are mostly expensive and could only at most be purchased by large and rich law firms or lawyers, it could cause a loss to the upcoming lawyers who are still very new to the legal business, killing their potential at early stages.

Overall, the impact artificial intelligence has on the legal profession is composed of two parts, both negative and positive. Since artificial intelligence has the potential to improve the worth of the legal profession in Nigeria, lawyers must also be aware of the risks and be able to strategize against them.