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A pioneering article has emerged from Suffolk University Law Dean Andrew Perlman, a renowned scholar in law and technology, showcasing the transformative role generative artificial intelligence (AI) could play in legal scholarship. Perlman leveraged ChatGPT—an advanced AI program designed to understand and generate human-like text—to co-author an article exploring the future of legal research and analysis.
A Novel Approach to Legal Scholarship
Perlman tasked ChatGPT with a groundbreaking challenge: to “develop a novel conception of the future of legal scholarship” that focuses on how generative AI might reshape the field. The result, as Perlman concluded, highlights the “creativity and linguistic sophistication of a competent legal scholar.”
The article, titled “Generative AI and the Future of Legal Scholarship,” was published on December 26 in the Social Science Research Network (SSRN), an online repository for scholarly articles. It underscores a significant step forward in assessing the capabilities of generative AI within academia, particularly in law schools.
Studies Highlight AI’s Capabilities and Challenges
The publication comes amid growing interest in the role of AI in legal education and practice. A 2023 study demonstrated that GPT-4, an earlier version of ChatGPT, could pass the bar exam with impressive results, reportedly scoring in the 90th percentile in most states. However, the methodology and conclusions of that study faced scrutiny.
Other research has revealed mixed outcomes regarding AI’s integration into academic settings. For example, GPT-4 improved test scores for lower-performing students on law exams but negatively impacted higher-performing students. Additionally, while generative AI helped law students complete writing tasks more quickly, it did not necessarily enhance the quality of their final work products.
Unveiling New Opportunities for Legal Research
In Perlman’s AI-assisted article, ChatGPT proposed several ways generative AI could revolutionize legal scholarship:
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- Trend Analysis: AI can help scholars uncover patterns in judicial reasoning, legislative behavior, and administrative actions that might otherwise remain hidden.
- Generating and Testing Ideas: AI tools can produce innovative arguments, brainstorm counterarguments, and simulate hypothetical scenarios with unparalleled speed.
- Enhanced Methodological Integration: By combining empirical legal studies with economic modeling, AI can deliver richer and more holistic analyses.
The Role of Human Judgment in AI-Driven Research
Despite its potential, Perlman’s article emphasizes that AI will not replace legal scholars. Instead, it will serve as a tool to amplify human expertise. Scholars will act as curators, discerning which AI-generated ideas are worth pursuing and ensuring ethical oversight remains central to the research process.
The epilogue of Perlman’s article captures this sentiment eloquently: “Tomorrow’s legal thought leaders will be those who reimagine what scholarship can achieve when human wisdom guides artificial intelligence.”
A Vision for the Future
Perlman’s experiment with ChatGPT represents a glimpse into the transformative potential of AI in academia. As generative AI continues to evolve, it is poised to expand the horizons of legal scholarship, enabling deeper insights, faster research, and more innovative approaches to understanding the law.
