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SINGAPORE: As artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly displaces the opportunities for young lawyers to develop foundational skills such as legal research and analysis, these skills are expected to degrade, perhaps even to the point of affecting a lawyer’s ability to check if an AI-generated product is correct.<\/p>\n
Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon said this in his speech at the opening of the legal year at the Supreme Court on Monday (Jan 12).<\/p>\n
He said the core function of a lawyer and the nature of legal work would be affected by the emerging ubiquity of generative AI, and that it would “upend the practice of the law and the way we train and develop lawyers”.<\/p>\n
“At the same time, ensuring that our profession is ready to harness new technology responsibly will improve the public’s access to justice,” he added.<\/p>\n
Attorney-General Lucien Wong said in his speech that there is still a place for lawyers in an AI world: “As lawyers, we place our client’s interests above our own and advocate for him or her, but this does not always mean saying ‘yes’.<\/p>\n
“Sometimes, it may mean saying ‘no’. This is why lawyers are given ‘instructions’ and not ‘prompts’.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n