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24 March 2023 / Roger Smith
Issue: 8018 / Categories: Opinion , Technology , Artificial intelligence , Legal services , Cyber
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ChatGPT: Time to get on board?

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We should seize the opportunities presented by new models of artificial intelligence to improve the provision of legal advice, says Roger Smith

You will have heard of ChatGPT. Media coverage and public awareness has been extraordinary. It gained one million users within five days of its launch in November last year. Since then, it has rarely been out of the news. By February, Henry Kissinger and his co-writers in the Wall Street Journal were heralding it as ‘an intellectual revolution’ comparable to the Gutenberg Bible.

For those in legal tech, there is little surprising perhaps in ChatGPT: much of what it can do is already available in existing products. The potentially revolutionary impact on the law probably lies in its use of ordinary language. This is a sophisticated chatbot that can talk directly with ordinary people. So, what potential is there for products like this in the world of legal aid and access to justice?

Worth the hype?

ChatGPT is just one of a number of new-generation

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Bellevue Law—Lianne Craig

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NEWS
The Supreme Court has delivered a decisive ruling on termination under the JCT Design & Build form. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Singer KC and Jonathan Ward, of Kings Chambers, analyse Providence Building Services v Hexagon Housing Association [2026] UKSC 1, which restores the first-instance decision and curbs contractors’ termination rights for repeated late payment
Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
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