With significant recent advances in Artificial Intelligence, attorneys may perceive AI as a threat to humans practicing law. See Annabel V. Teiling, Will AI Render Lawyers Obsolete?, New York State Bar, October 7, 2025; see also Gary E. Marchant, PhD., Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Legal Practice, The SciTech Lawyer, Summer 2017. But such fears stem from viewing AI through a catastrophic lens as though AI has suddenly arrived in the legal profession to extricate attorneys like an extra-terrestrial invasion of Earth seeking to wipe out humanity. Thankfully, such fears can be alleviated by examining the history of AI in the legal profession, the benefits AI provides, and how humans will always have a critical role in seeking justice for their clients.

Regarding the history of AI in the legal profession, AI and the practice of law have had a pre-existing relationship for many years as seen through the virtual universal adoption of search engines to conduct legal research. See How Is AI Changing the Legal Profession, Bloomberg Law, May 23, 2024; see also How Law Firms Can Use AI To Level Up Their Business?, Thomson Reuters, September 25, 2023. Historically, AI search engines, like Lexis and Westlaw, allowed attorneys to radically reduce the time and improve the accuracy of their legal research. Today, AI’s capabilities appear poised to allow attorneys to not only improve their research but to elevate nearly every area of their practice.

For example, Matter-aware boasts the capabilities to contemplate fact specific questions in the context of a specific legal matter. See The Rise of Matter-Aware AI and the Future of Legal Practice, American Bar Association, February 5, 2026.  So, “[i]nstead of answering questions in a vacuum, [Matter-aware AI] draws directly from the matter itself: documents, timelines, notes, jurisdiction, and procedural status.” See id. As a result, Matter-aware AI claims to provide answers and analysis while “maintaining a real-time understanding of the case.” See id. Furthermore, Matter-aware AI reportedly contemplates these fact specific questions while also relying on “comprehensive legal research database…. [to] ensure[]…outputs are not only contextually relevant, but legally reliable and ethically usable.” See id.

This means current and future AI exists as an incredible tool allowing attorneys to research faster, streamline analysis, reduce errors, provide more cost-effective services, and “expand[] access to justice.” See How Is AI Impacting the Legal Profession, Vanderbilt University law school, January 5, 2026. Thus, “AI should be viewed as a tool that can complement and enhance [attorneys’] work” rather than as something to fear. See Annabel V. Teiling, Will AI Render Lawyers Obsolete?, New York State Bar, October 7, 2025;

While this tool can significantly enhance an attorney’s work, it does not altogether replace attorneys. First, AI does not always provide the perfect answers. See e.g.,Pamela Langham, Massachusetts Lawyer Sanctioned for AI-Generated Fictitious Case Citations, Maryland State Bar Association, March 4, 2024. Thus, attorneys must still thoroughly examine AI’s output for critical errors to ensure those errors do not impact the matter at hand. See Sharon D. Nelson, Esq., John W. Simek, and Michael C. Maschke,Using generative AI in your practice? You better be aware of ethical implications, State Bar of Montana.

Furthermore, and perhaps most important, AI does not change the audience for an attorney’s advocacy. Whether the audience represents a judge, jury, business, group, or individual, the attorney’s audience remains human. Thus, the human attorney remains in the best position to ultimately determine which evidence, research, strategy, and actions will persuade their human audience.

In sum, AI does not represent an extinction-level threat to attorneys. Instead, AI’s current capabilities serves an infliction in the evolution of the practice of law becoming more efficient, more precise, and more accessible. Simply put, when used appropriately, AI makes lawyers better.