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In the second AI conversation of the King’s Academy ‘Interfaculty Insights’ series, Professor Dan Hunter, Executive Dean of the Dickson Poon School of Law, shared his multifaceted engagement with artificial intelligence (AI). Prof Hunter discussed the transformative potential of AI, particularly generative AI, in legal education, practice, and beyond. With a long history in the field of AI and law, he offered a unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities presented by this rapidly evolving technology. To say he is firmly in the enthusiast camp, is probably an understatement.

From his vantage point, Prof Hunter presents the following key ideas:

1. AI tools (especially LLMs) are already demonstrating significant productivity gains for professionals and students alike but it is often more about the ways they can do ‘scut work’. Workers and students become more efficient and improve work quality when using these models. For those with lower skill levels the improvement is even more pronounced.
2. While cognitive offloading to AI models raises concerns about losing specific skills (examples of long division or logarithms were mentioned), Prof Hunter argued that we must adapt to this new reality. The “cat is out of the bag” so our responsibility lies in identifying and preserving foundational skills while embracing the benefits of AI.
3. Assessment methods in legal education (and by implication across disciplines) must evolve to accommodate AI capabilities. Traditional essay writing can be easily replicated by language models, necessitating more complex and time-intensive assessment approaches. Prof Hunter advocates for supporting the development of prompt engineering skills and requiring students to use AI models while reflecting on the process.
4. The legal profession will undergo a significant shakeup, with early adopters thriving and those resistant to change struggling. Routine tasks will be automated obligating lawyers to move up the value chain and offer higher-value services. This disruption may lead to the need for retraining.
5. AI models can help address unmet legal demand by making legal services more affordable and accessible. However, this will require systematic changes in how law is taught and practiced, with a greater emphasis on leveraging AI’s capabilities.
6. In the short term, we tend to overestimate the impact of technological innovations, while underestimating their long-term effects. Just as the internet transformed our lives over decades, the full impact of generative AI may take time to unfold, but it will undoubtedly be transformative.
7. Educators must carefully consider when cognitive offloading to AI is appropriate and when it is necessary for students to engage in the learning process without AI assistance. Finding the right balance is crucial for effective pedagogy in the AI era.
8. Professional services staff can benefit from AI by identifying repetitive, language-based tasks that can be offloaded to language models. However, proper training on responsible AI use, data privacy, and information security is essential to avoid potential pitfalls.
9. While AI models can aid in brainstorming, generating persuasive prose, and creating analogies, they currently lack the ability for critical thinking, planning, and execution. Humans must retain these higher-order skills, which cannot yet be outsourced to AI.
10. Embracing AI in legal education and practice is not just about adopting the technology but also about fostering a mindset of change and continuous adaptation. As Prof Hunter notes, “If large language models were a drug, everyone would be prescribed them.” *

The first in the series was Dr Mandeep Gill Sagoo

* First draft of this summary generated from meeting transcript via Claude