Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) has become a powerful tool in many areas of life and is transforming almost every profession – including the legal sector.  AI can draft emails, summarise documents, and even produce apparently sophisticated legal documents in seconds.

Whilst this is certainly impressive, many of us are old enough to remember when a satnav would confidently direct us into a lake.

In Private Client law, where advice often concerns Wills, trusts, tax planning and preparing for mental incapacity, can AI replace a good solicitor?  

AI Doesn’t Know What It Doesn’t Know 

AI is great at producing outputs quickly. It is also great at producing wrong answers quickly, presented with the confidence of a three-year-old’s belief in the existence of Santa Claus. 

AI is trained on vast amounts of information from a wide variety of sources – some more credible than others. As a result, AI outputs may be influenced by online content produced by people with no expertise in the subject matter.

Laws governing inheritance, trusts and tax also change frequently, and new case law is published regularly. Without the requisite legal knowledge, it is difficult to know whether an AI output reflects current legislation and practice, or accounts for a change that may be on the horizon. Would you know if your AI output is based on good law and practice, or the musings of an online stranger? 

Private Client matters also rarely turn on a simple legal question. What can seem to be an insignificant fact can completely change the advice. Whilst an AI system may identify the general rule, it is most likely to miss the exception, overlook a qualification or fail to recognise that a crucial piece of information is missing altogether. In contrast, experienced solicitors spend time asking questions that clients never expected to be relevant. 

Expertise and Empathy

AI systems are not qualified legal professionals, and neither are most of their users. AI outputs are only as reliable as the information on which they are based.

For example, a good solicitor does not just ask you who you want to leave your assets to after your death. They will instead want to understand your personal background and family dynamics, your vulnerabilities and your concerns, to enable you to make an informed choice on what kind of Will best achieves your aims. 

Private Client work, in particular, requires precision, empathy, and an understanding of the interaction between human nature and the law. AI can only work with the information provided. It cannot identify issues that clients themselves had not realised were relevant in the way that an experienced solicitor can. The most valuable advice usually comes from having conversations with our clients, not just taking their instructions. 

Professional Accountability 

When a solicitor makes a mistake, you have recourse. Solicitors are regulated and insured, and you also have the benefit of a human being who takes pride in their work and is morally and professionally driven to act in your best interests. 

With AI, there is no such protection. You (or your loved ones) bear the full risk of any errors or omissions.  Anyone who has used AI in relation to an area they know well will have experienced how AI is notoriously prone to mistakes and “hallucinations” – providing outputs that can be factually wrong or entirely fictitious, and how indifferently it will continue when you flag that it has made an error – the very embodiment of the nonchalant shrugging emoji. 

The Cost of Mistakes

A core problem with AI in Private Client work is that a mistake may not become apparent for many years. 

A poorly drafted Will may only be discovered after death. 

A trust created without advice may have created unexpected tax liabilities. 

What was intended to be prudent tax planning may instead have created a significant asset protection issue.

What can initially appear to be a straightforward issue may involve complexities that only become visible to an experienced adviser.

As the adage goes “cheap advice can be very expensive”. 

Conclusion

This article is not intended to be inherently “anti-AI”. When used appropriately, AI is clearly an extremely valuable tool. However, that is precisely what it is – a tool. In that same way you would (hopefully!) not pick up a scalpel if you needed surgery, having access to AI does not turn a person into an experienced and regulated professional. 

Private Client law lies at the intersection of legal and human complexity, requiring not just technical expertise but an understanding of families, relationships, and human nature. Whilst AI can generate answers, a good solicitor knows which questions need to be asked in the first place. When the subject affects your life savings and your loved ones, that distinction matters.