AI Writing For Law Firms: Should You or Shouldn’t You?
As the saying goes, the future is now! We’re living in a time where we watch an episode of The Jetsons and realize that what seemed so crazy and then is our reality today! And for many of that, AI is the perfect example of the future coming to our real world. AI (Artificial Intelligence) is a branch of computer science that deals with creating intelligent machines capable of performing tasks that require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making and translation between languages. AI systems can be trained to learn from data in order to make decisions and perform complex tasks with minimal human intervention. AI algorithms have been used in a variety of applications, such as natural language processing (NLP), image and video recognition, machine learning, robotics, navigation systems autonomous vehicles.
A recent study finds that 43% of professionals use AI tools, including ChatGPT, for work-related tasks. The majority, nearly 1/3, are doing so without letting their boss know.
- techspot.com
For law firms, AI can be used for everything from
interviewing job applicants
document management
legal research
document review
reviewing case law
contract analysis
website chatbots
predicting case outcomes
writing website copy and blogs
drafting social media posts, newsletters and client nurture campaigns
Sounds pretty great, right?
Urban Myth: Google Does NOT penalize website pages that use AI content. Google only penalizes poorly written content that provides a poor UX experience.
As providers of SEO-optimized content for law firms, our clients have recently been asking us do we use ChatGPT to write their blog posts and nurture campaigns. Right now, the answer is no. But if they asked a different question, such as: Do we use AI tools to draft law firm content, they’d get a different answer ? Of course! We do not presently use ChatGPT, Bard, Bing, Baidu or other AI chatbots to write law firm blogs or website copy.
But every day we use AI content writing tools like Jasper, Grammarly and Canva to enhance and improve our copy (and prevent simple errors). What’s the difference? A lot!
The AI chatbots like ChatGPT simply aren’t accurate and trustworthy - yet. Sure, we’ve all heard stories about how ChatGPT passed the ChatGPT passed the bar exam or wrote a better contract than an experienced contracts lawyer. But we’ve also heard the horror stories about ChatGPT, saying that
Jack Dorsey still owns Twitter - ChatGPT’s knowledge base only goes back to 2021, because it’s still Beta
ChatGPT gets into funny arguments and calls people names - and worse
it provides misinformation from the internet, spreading dangerous campaign junk news and that people like Mark Cuban warn the public there are no safeguards against the spread of bad information
chatbot’s don’t source their data, and their content freely plagarizes other authors without attribution
ChatGPT “sometimes writes plausible-sounding but incorrect or nonsensical answers … is often excessively verbose … [and] will sometimes respond to harmful instructions or exhibit biased behavior.”
- OpenAI
These problems don’t apply only to ChatGPT . But since ChatGPT’s release in November, it’s been wildly popular with the public, and many people see it as a solution to reducing costs and fast-tracking business problems, including writing blog posts and website copy.
So Should Law Firms Use AI Chatbots?
Absolutely, there is a place for AI chatbots as a useful, effective tool for creating law firms blogs and website copy, and we will be using ChatCPT and other AI chatbots at SEO My Law Firm. In fact, I have been using and experimenting with ChatGPT for a couple of months now to see how it does - and doesn’t - work.
Anyone who doesn’t use AI chatbots and other AI writing tools will be left behind: the future is now, and we all have to grow and adapt. After all, I’m writing this blog post on an iMac, not using pen and paper!
State bar associations and the ABA are starting to take notice of AI chatbots. An AI-based legal defense of a traffic ticket was scheduled to appear in a California court this month using text generators including ChatGPT until several state bars protested - and ‘robot lawyer’ dropped the case.
AI Writing Best Practices
For now, here are my personal guidelines and best practices for using AI chatbots and other writing tools and and assistants for your legal content writing:
1. Fact Check
If you outsource your blog post writing, social media management and website copy to a professional content writer, make sure they are a Subject Matter Expert (SME)and if they use an AI writing tool, they know how to fact check to ensure that the tool provides accurate information.
2. Run a Plagairism Program
ChatGPT and other chatbots do not have built-in plagiarism checkers. Make sure you use an external plagiarism checker to make sure that all content is original, or is properly sourced.
3. Verify Data Accuracy
ChatGPT only has data back to 2021, each may have different data accuracy dependent on whether they are live or beta. Know your data source.
4. Tone and Voice Matter
Your audience may use specific language and tone that all AI tools do not support. Ensure your writing tool supports your audience’s tone, voice and brand terminology.
5. Consider Output a 1st Draft
Whatever output your AI tool returns, consider it a 1st draft that needs the expert guidance, editing and reworking of an SME.
Yes, ChatGPT and other AI chatbots and writing tools can enhance your law firm’s content strategy under the guidance of a talented content management team who understands how AI content tools work, and their limitations. They may not save you time or money - but they may give your content a competitive edge that will help you attract more leads, convert more prospects and build your law firm client roster.
And bottom line, that’s the whole purpose of your content strategy! AI can be a smart investment in your content strategy IF used correctly!
For fun, check out ChatGPT or one of the other AI chatbots and ask it to write your bio or someone else's bio whom you know very well and fact-check. How much does it get right - and how much does it get wrong?
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