Why “Human in the Loop” Still Matters in Legal AI
On the In-House podcast, I shared why AI won’t erase lawyers — but it will change every role inside the legal function. Tools may act like lawyers, yet judgment and oversight remain squarely human.
Thrilled to join Jessica Nguyen on the In-House podcast alongside Jenny Hamilton, CLO at Exterro, for a conversation on how AI is reshaping the legal profession. 🎙️
We explored the big question so many of us are asking: “Is AI going to take my job?” My view: “I’m not worried about it taking my job — I’m worried about how it will fundamentally change almost every job in the legal function.”
I emphasized that while AI is getting very good at “acting like a lawyer,” it is not one — and that’s where the human in the loop remains critical. For legal professionals, the challenge isn’t elimination, it’s adaptation. As I put it: “For folks who want to stay in the same exact spot where they are, that’s going to be really difficult.”
We also dug into the parallels between today’s AI moment and the earlier transformation of eDiscovery. Just as digital tools replaced paper and created efficiency, AI will accelerate contracting, research, and workflows — but still requires lawyers to guide, validate, and nudge outcomes in the right direction.
Finally, I shared some of my current “tinkering” with tools like Notebook LLM (to remove hallucinations by creating a closed universe of documents), Claude (for clear, executive-ready writing), and ChatGPT (for research and persona-based drafting). The throughline: AI is only valuable if it’s solving a real problem — not just adopted for the “gee whiz” factor.
This was a conversation about more than technology — it was about the future of our profession. AI won’t erase the need for lawyers, but it will demand that we evolve, lean into new skills, and embrace our role as translators between powerful tools and trusted human judgment.
