Since being coined in 1956 by John McCarthy, the term ‘Artificial Intelligence’ (AI) has triggered extensive debate and speculation on the impact it will have on society.

AI is set to transform every aspect of how we live and work across many industries but, with the longstanding, industry wide concerns about the potential of AI leading to a jobless future, the clear benefits AI can offer are easily overlooked. However, as today’s PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report shows, AI is not the enemy. It has immense potential to create new jobs and enhance existing ones, with 7.2m new UK jobs set to be created by 2037.

The report estimates that professional, scientific and technical services, including the legal sector, will gain nearly half a million jobs because of AI advances- a huge boost in employment opportunity. The benefits AI can bring to the legal sector can be seen through Luminance, a platform serving to enrich the work of lawyers worldwide, allowing firms and corporations to cope with the changing demands of the evolving legal profession.

Our AI technology is not making junior lawyers redundant – instead, it is just taking over the mindless, legal drudge work posing an ever-increasing burden on modern-day lawyers. This frees up lawyers to perform the higher value, stimulating, intellectual work the human brain is built for, making use of their years of legal training and expertise. While there has been some initial scepticism amongst law firms, when they see the greater insight, confidence and control that can be achieved with AI, they quickly understand how essential the technology is to remain competitive within the modern legal landscape.