Linklaters, She Breaks the Law and Next 100 Years have published the results of a detailed survey on how women in the law are using AI, what risks they see with this technology, as well as providing in their report suggestions for organisations on how to close the gender gap.
Bias and inaccuracy were pinpointed as a key barrier to adoption. Despite enthusiasm for AI’s capabilities, concerns about accuracy and the need for human oversight were identified, with 37% of respondents citing fears around AI’s reliability. ‘Bias appears to be a core driver of this mistrust, with 43% saying they have observed bias in AI and legal tech, including biased tools, reports of biased outcomes and qualitative impacts,’ they found.
You can find the report to download here.
The survey also found a strong positive consensus on the potential of AI to enhance efficiency and productivity in the legal sector, with 77% of respondents saying that AI is having an ‘extremely significant’ impact on the profession. Despite this, 31% of respondents felt only ‘somewhat informed’ and another 17% noted they had a knowledge gap.
Meanwhile, 26% of respondents said that a lack of training and resources were also blockers to AI adoption. Respondents pointed to practical experience (24%), comprehensive training (20%) and mentorship opportunities (20%) to help boost AI adoption amongst women.
Moreover, feedback highlighted that ‘women who are out of the office for long periods to fulfil caregiving roles, occupy positions with more ‘organisational dusting’ responsibilities or work for leaders who are not supportive of AI adoption have less time to upskill and therefore could be at a disadvantage’, the report authors said.
Shilpa Bhandarkar, Partner, Client Tech & AI and Co-chair of Linklaters’ GenAI Steering Group, commented: ‘The findings from the survey underline the genuine risk that AI could further deepen the gender divide. However, each of us has the ability to influence the outcome: whether by actively using technology to expose and challenge ingrained biases, giving our teams the time and space to experiment and learn, or by choosing vendors who share our values. If we champion these efforts collectively, we could reverse the path we’re currently on and instead accelerate the progress toward gender equality in law.’
Dana Denis Smith, founder of the Next 100 Years and CEO of Obelisk Support, said: ‘The growing presence of AI in the profession is undeniably having a significant impact on women. While there are certainly valid concerns regarding its use, I encourage women to view it as an opportunity to help create a better working environment. A crucial aspect of this will be ensuring that female lawyers and business services professionals receive the training, time, and support needed to fully engage with this transformative technology. Integrating this into firms’ and in-house teams’ broader strategy for adopting innovative technologies will be key.’
And Helen Burness, CMO, She Breaks the Law, concluded: ‘As Helen Keller said, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” Together with our partners, Next 100 Years and Linklaters, our lawbreakers and male allies, we hope this report and surrounding events mark the start of many initiatives where we support each other, ensure women’s voices are heard, and claim our seat at the table when it comes to AI.’
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Demographics: the report authors conducted an online survey in May-June 2024, targeting women working in the legal profession. They received responses from 90 women working for law firms and other legal service providers, in-house teams and legal technology providers.
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