New tech will not level the playing field, says Marlon Hylton, and refining outputs will be critical
While some believe AI will help less experienced lawyers close the skills gap with top legal minds, it will instead widen the divide, says Marlon Hylton, the founder of Innov-8 Data Counsel and Innov-8 Legal Inc.
Hylton, a former practising lawyer, adds that AI enhances legal expertise at all levels, but the greatest advantages will go to those who are already highly skilled.
“Having looked around at a lot of the research that's going on in the space, my view of that is what AI will actually do is act as a force multiplier that sees the more talented lawyers end up further ahead anyway,” Hylton says.
AI doesn’t replace but rather augments human legal expertise, Hylton says, adding that the most skilled lawyers will be able to extract the best value from AI-generated outputs while others may struggle.
“One thing we know for sure about AI, especially large language models, is they do some really complex things, really, really well, but they get some pretty simple things wrong,” he says.
“They hallucinate and make stuff up.”
He says that because of this, the ability to refine and apply AI’s outputs will become even more critical.
“A skilled lawyer can see that about two-thirds of what it's telling you is not quite right or not quite usable.”
Although AI will streamline certain tasks, it cannot replace the judgment, analytical skills, and strategic thinking that define exceptional lawyers, he says.
“AI raises all boats” by cutting the time needed to summarize research or craft arguments, Hylton says, but it still cannot replace what a skilled lawyer brings.
“What [AI] cannot do for anyone is the refinement and the application of that output. So, lawyers who are already extraordinary, and by extraordinary, I mean lawyers who can apply judgment, who perform well in information-rich environments where complexity is a feature, … will be able to do a lot more with AI than lawyers who aren't at that skill level,” he adds.
For junior lawyers, AI can be a powerful tool to enhance foundational tasks like research and contract review, Hylton says. He says data already suggests AI improves the work of lower-level employees across industries, including finance, innovation, and law.
However, he says, it will not transform an average lawyer into an extraordinary one.
“The key thing is that [AI] amplifies the existing expertise. So if my existing expertise is already a cut above yours, and we're both amplified, it follows that the gap will remain, and my view is that the gap will become even wider,” he says.
Hylton says AI’s ability to help lawyers depends not just on legal skills but on tech literacy, adding that lawyers who fail to engage with AI will not reap its benefits.
“You can be a very sharp and skilled lawyer in terms of the traditional measurement of what makes a skilled lawyer or an extraordinary lawyer. But if you're a complete technophobe who does not wish to engage with the technology, then [AI] is not going to help,” he adds.
He says that “very sharp juniors” may be at an advantage, as their familiarity with AI can help them improve faster than their more senior but less tech-inclined counterparts.
Hylton says that not all law firms have the same ability to take advantage of AI.
Larger law firms are better positioned to benefit from AI due to their access to more data, financial resources, and the ability to hire specialized personnel.
He adds that small firms can still benefit from AI but face limitations, including smaller data sets and fewer resources.
AI adoption also comes with significant financial costs. Beyond the expense of acquiring the technology itself, he says firms must invest in specialized personnel, such as data scientists and AI experts, to develop and maintain the systems.
The cost of detecting and correcting AI errors varies depending on the task. While AI-generated marketing materials may require minimal oversight, he adds that legal determinations, such as whether a document is privileged, demand a much higher degree of accuracy.
“The degree of correctness that’s required can render using AI a lot more expensive than having lawyers do it anyway… AI is resource-intensive in all kinds of ways. It's about data. It's about the models or parameters in those models. It's about the compute power,” he says.
Larger firms have the edge in all these areas, he adds.
