AI is here. Actually, it’s been here for a while; as a field of computer science, AI is actually older than all of the people reading this newsletter. Generative AI and large language models are more recent innovations, but the real novelty in 2023 is the extent of the wide-ranging practical applications of AI and LLMs.
But like all new technologies, many are skeptical of the extent or longevity of the impact of generative AI and LLMs. And if that includes you, not to worry – you’re in good company! Throughout history, almost every major technological advancements has been met with skepticism, concern and resistance.
When the telephone was introduced in the late 19th century, it was accused of ruining romantic connection; it was suggested that the elevator increased crime and caused “brain fever”, and automobiles were known amongst their opponents as “the devil’s wagon”. Even in the 80’s, walkmans were described by some as “mind-altering devices” with laws passed to keep them off the streets.
Generative AI is no different. Our skepticism endures until we experience for ourselves its tangible benefits, and only then we will want to leverage those benefits in our personal and professional lives.
Introducing Lexi, a browser-based legal information and research tool, powered by generative AI, with three key features: legal Q&A, legal document review, and legal document generation. Made by lawyers, Lexi is designed to streamline your legal workflows.
The Lexi Open Beta has launched. It’s still in Beta, so it won’t be perfect, but we want to release Lexi and gather feedback on both the features you like, and – more importantly – those you dislike, so we can refine and improve our product.
As lawyers ourselves, this is daunting. We are trained to be perfectionists. We are trained to be risk averse. But we are taking a chance releasing Lexi because we want to explore how generative AI can be leveraged in legal practice. If you’re willing to take a chance too, please consider signing up to the Beta via this link.
Q&A
A key feature of Lexi is her ability to provide accurate and reliable legal information in response to questions about Australian business law topics.
This feature allows users to ask Lexi questions on any business law issues they may have, and receive an answer in digestible plain language. Legally trained users are also able to request more comprehensive and technical answers with citations of legal authorities or legislation.
Whilst generative AI such as ChatGPT or standard search engines such as Google or Bing are able to answer basic legal queries, there is always a question about the legal accuracy of their responses (as New York attorney Mr Schwartz recently discovered, when he unknowingly filed fabricated case citations generated by ChatGPT). Lexi’s answers are drawn from a verified database of legal information which provides a ‘ground truth’ to the answers it generates.
For lawyers: Lexi can be harnessed by you to facilitate and reduce time spent on legal research. Lexi also allows you to share sessions with your teammates to collaborate on research using Lexi. Teamwork makes the dream work!
Document review
Lexi is not limited to just Q&A. Subscribers can upload legal word documents for Lexi to summarize in plain language. Drawing upon only the information in the document, Lexi can answer questions on specific clauses and provide actionable suggestions. Confidentiality and data privacy is at the forefront of Lexi’s model: any documents uploaded to Lexi for analysis are stored locally in the subscriber’s browser, and your questions and answers are not visible to OpenAI or any other third party.
For lawyers, Lexi’s document review and summary feature allows you to instantly obtain the relevant key points from legal documents, identify the critical legal issues, analyze multiple documents to better understand and assist their clients. Improve your overall efficiency by cutting down the time spent on document review, and say good-bye to shifting through pages of lengthy docs looking for the clauses and definitions and trying to work out how each interact!
Document and correspondence generation
Lexi doesn’t stop there. With her document generation function, Lexi is able to generate legal documents in the chat interface, guiding you through the most appropriate information to include. We’ve started with a small suite of documents in teh credit and debt spaces, but we hope to build out this library over time.
Lexi can also ghostwrite emails based on your Q&A and document review sessions. Found some helpful information that you’d like to share with someone else? Lexi can write a summary for you. Want to use the information you’ve found to write correspondence to a creditor, debtor or other party, that is backed up by legal principles you’ve learned about on Lexi? Lexi can do that too.
For lawyers, automating the generation of legal documents means you can save time trying to find and create legal precedents for common documents, while also tailoring documents based on the needs of the client.
More about the creators of Lexi:
Interested in how you can leverage Lexi in your everyday work? Sign up to Lexi’s Beta at https://beta.lext.com.au or reach out to Josh Bicknell on [email protected].