— Reality Check —
Before I get into the substance of this article, let me acknowledge that we are presently in the trough of disillusionment in relation to Generative AI in the legal profession right now. This will change soon enough, and I’m not saying this disposition is universal or inevitable, but the naysayer’s are having their day. I say this, not to discourage you of course, if anything the opposite. I believe that by you being here and learning more about AI, the better positioned you will be. Knowledge is power and never was that not more true than with understanding the power of AI.
Okay, with that, let’s begin.
What Is an AI Agent?
An AI Agent can take intelligent action to do something in the world on its own.
OpenAI dipped its toe in the water with Custom GPTs and there’s been an explosion of interest in what AI Agents or “Agentic AI” can accomplish for us, in everything from computer programming to customer service.² An AI Agent can be employed to answer your phones, take messages, and transfer calls. An AI Agent can be tasked with engaging website visitors, answering frequently asked questions and scheduling consultations. An AI Agent can be assigned to interview clients, review documents and information and draft legal documents.
Sound familiar? These are all job skills you may require of a receptionist, administrative assistant or junior lawyer or paralegal to do at your law firm. The difference of course is that, once you train the AI Agent, it can perform these functions 24/7/365, all for a recurring subscription fee.
How is an AI Agent different than an AI Copilot?
An AI Copilot, like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity or the like works with you to help you to accomplish a goal. That’s why the “Copilot” moniker is so appropriate. Because, a copilot is not meant to replace the captain; you, the captain, is still in charge.
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A literal copilot or first officer, as it were, is meant to assist the copilot so the captain can do a good job. The copilot helps to safely navigate the plane and assist the captain with all other needs such as weather reporting and safety checks. Likewise, an AI copilot can help with things like grammar check, translation, drafting emails or letters, researching a legal question, or summarizing a deposition transcript.
Fundamentally, an AI Copilot is helpful, but limited. The copilot relationship is 1 to 1. The user inputs a prompt and the AI outputs a response. The AI performs one function at a time. The user asks the AI to summarize a document and must wait on the AI to complete that task before asking it to do something else. The user and the AI also have to be in the same place at the same time (synchronous). The AI does not act on its own, the user must be present to input the request. In sum, the AI Copilot is helpful but limited because its use must be 1 to 1 and synchronous.
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