According to the 2024 Blickenstein Law Department Operations Survey, efficiency is the main priority for legal operations professionals looking to apply generative AI. Indeed, AI is well-suited for repetitive tasks and, in turn, can free up attorneys and legal operations professionals alike for more impactful, high-level work.
However, the capacity of AI is naturally balanced out by the trepidation that tends to accompany any relatively new technology. More than 40% of survey respondents classified generative AI as a top challenge in managing legal operations, highlighting the degree to which promise and peril can be deeply intertwined.
The key to reaping the benefits of AI while avoiding its pitfalls (from hallucinations to security concerns) is selecting a top-tier vendor—one with robust governance and non-negotiable AI principles baked into the company and its offering.
A framework for building reliable AI
Wolters Kluwer developed a comprehensive AI Assurance Framework to help legal departments leverage AI without putting data or customer trust at risk. This six-step approach offers an important roadmap for controlled and responsible AI development.
At a high level, the framework involves:
- Understanding the customer’s business problem
- Performing exploratory data analysis
- Identifying and training models
- Testing models with human oversight
- Continuously improving and adjusting
The key, though, is making the use of these guidelines non-negotiable. Because the world of AI is moving fast—and because so many customers are eager to implement AI in the name of efficiency—some vendors may be tempted to cut corners or skip steps in the name of staying competitive. But that’s a poor strategy in the long run. Without a consistently followed framework, there’s a far greater chance that customer fears will come to fruition.
What makes AI responsible and dependable?
While following the above framework offers useful guiderails for creating transparent, responsible, and useful AI, we also have principles geared towards trustworthiness as well. Those principles include:
- Privacy & security
- Transparency & explainability
- Governance & accountability
- Fairness
- Human focus
These principles work in tandem with our governance framework to create AI that can be trusted by customers. Keeping a human in the loop is of particular importance; even outputs generated by the most responsibly built AI should still be checked by an employee with sufficient domain expertise.
Altogether, our commitment to governance is something we’re extremely proud of, as it enables customers to embrace new technology without sacrificing peace of mind. To that end, Wolters Kluwer has been cited by Newsweek as a “most trustworthy company,” Chartis Research recognized us as a top five AI application provider, and partners like Microsoft work with us to deliver reliable and cutting-edge solutions.
For more granular detail on our governance framework and AI principles, download our eBook: How Wolters Kluwer is creating responsible, reliable, and secure AI for the legal industry.
