Solicitors rank high in new survey measuring exposure to AI
updated on 07 December 2023
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A new study, published by the Department for Education, found that of the occupations most exposed to AI, solicitors ranked 12th on the list when considering exposure to all AI applications and second for exposure to large language modelling (LLM).
The report, which was produced by the Unit for Future Skills and estimates the relative exposure of UK jobs to AI “as opposed to the absolute impact of AI”, showed that professional occupations (eg, law and business management roles) are more exposed to the evolving technology.
Solicitors appeared under both “exposure to all AI applications” and “exposure to LLM” in the report, ranking 12th in the first list, just below management consultants, financial managers and chartered accountants, and second in the LLM list, behind telephone salespersons. In turn, the report ranked sports players and tilers as the occupations least exposed to all AI applications.
LLMs are “a type of machine learning model that can perform a variety of natural language processing (NLP) tasks such as generating and classifying text, answering questions in a conversational manner, and translating text from one language to another”, according to technology expert Margret Rouse.
The study stated: “The occupations most exposed to AI include more professional occupations, particularly those associated with more clerical work and across finance, law and business management roles.” This news comes as law firms are increasingly looking at ways to adopt AI to carry out simple tasks to increase efficiency. Plus, in September Lord Justice Birss even used ChatGPT to write a ruling.
The report also outlined how AI might impact workers in different geographical areas. The data showed that workers in London and the South East have the highest chance of exposure to AI, and that workers in the North East will be least affected. This is due to London having a higher proportion of professional occupations and a lower proportion of elementary traders.
However, the paper also urges readers to approach the results with caution: “The extent to which occupations are exposed to AI will change due to the pace at which AI technologies are developing and as new data becomes available.”
