Regardless of how good the capabilities of AI models are today, or in the future, AI won’t make your lives easier. At least in one sense.

For a long time, we’ve heard how artificial intelligence technologies can automate processes, improve workflows and just plain get more done. For the last almost two years since the introduction of ChatGPT, it seems like we’ve heard nothing else. And – despite some challenges and current shortcomings – AI technologies are delivering benefits. Not “Staples Easy-button” use it and “run with it” results in most cases (as the lawyers in this famous case – and several others – have learned), but benefits nonetheless (if applied in an iterative manner with testing and validation).

So, this is NOT a post bashing AI. AI technologies are delivering – and will continue to improve in delivering – terrific benefits to eDiscovery and legal professionals, as well as society overall (provided we address some of the critical concerns associated with it, like data privacy protection, power and resource issues, etc.). Oh, and taking over our jobs and the world in general. That too. 😉

Even if it does, AI won’t make your lives easier – at least from a quality-of-life perspective. Why not? Here are three examples of revolutionary technology advancements over the past several decades and what they have meant to us:

1. Email: Many of you aren’t old enough to remember when we didn’t have email in our lives – it has been around for decades. Before email, business communications were primarily conducted either in-person, on the phone or in written communication – on paper! That was a time when we conducted our work in the office and left it when we went home (whenever that was). Now, because of email, you can get so much more done than we ever could before. You also receive business communications all the time. While many of you try to ignore them and are successful at times (such as when you go on vacation in remote places), you are generally a slave to your email. How many of you have never responded to an important email from a client or colleague in the evening after the “workday” is over? I doubt very many of you can make that claim. Email has made you accessible for work during all waking hours.
2. The Cloud: In recent years, the use of cloud-based solutions has skyrocketed (especially during the pandemic). People got used to working at home (many still do, at least part time) and organizations adjusted to make sure the files they needed to do their work were accessible. Now, you’re collaborating on documents, spreadsheets and presentations in the cloud instead of having to wait until we get back to the office to access them on the server. The cloud enables you to get more work done than ever, but it has also made you even more accessible for work during all waking hours.
3. Mobile Devices: Most of you have seen the rapid evolution of cellphones into the smartphones that are today’s mobile devices. With your smartphones, you can do just about anything, including (of course) read and respond to emails and access important information in our cloud-based repositories. Mobile devices enable you to get work done just about anywhere – even on vacation in many remote places. Which means they also make you even more accessible for work than we already were.

These technological advancements enabled you to get WAY more done than you ever could before. Can you imagine trying to get the same amount of work done without the benefits of these technological advancements? Impossible.

But are you any less busy? No, if anything, you’re busier than ever because you’re expected to do WAY more than ever. Technology hasn’t made your lives easier; it has just enabled you to get more done with the time you have – which has stretched more into traditional personal time.

Not to mention (but I will anyway) that you also have WAY more technological challenges than ever. There are few things as frustrating as technical difficulties – whether it’s login issues or programs that are confusing or don’t work the way they should. Those technical difficulties derail you from all the additional things you’re expected to be able to do when the technology works.

If you apply technological advancements to eDiscovery, similar expectations follow. If you automate a workflow, you’re expected to handle more data (because there always seems to be more data to handle) and do more with the data (such as apply advanced analytics to it) and/or handle more tasks, more cases, etc. If you can do more through leveraging technology, the workload will rise to meet or exceed any additional capacity we gain from the benefits derived from leveraging that technology.

And that’s why AI won’t make your lives easier – at least in terms of quality-of-life. Because the more productive you become through the use of technology, the more you will be expected to accomplish – through the use of technology. There aren’t more golf outings, spa days, or anything else in your future because of AI.*

AI won’t make your lives easier – and that’s OK. Understanding it to the best of your ability, however, might enable you to keep your job. I hope I didn’t just talk you out of that being a good thing. 😀

So, what do you think? Do you think AI technologies will give you more quality time in your day? Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

*Unless you start an AI company, sell it and make a billion dollars, that is. 😀

Image created using GPT-4’s Image Creator Powered by DALL-E, using the term “robot lawyer riding an exercise bike while looking at a small mobile device with one hand and juggling two tennis balls with the other hand”.

Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the authors and speakers themselves, and do not necessarily represent the views held by my employer, my partners or my clients. eDiscovery Today is made available solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscovery Today should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.