
Ahead of the Legal Innovators California conference, June 11 and 12 in San Francisco, AL caught up with Nik Reed, CEO of Knowable, to explore how genAI is changing the legal world. We cover: how genAI helps lawyers get back to doing what they were always meant to do; power sharing with AI; a new take on the idea of ‘agency’ for lawyers and now technology; and the multiple waves of legal AI.
Here’s some more about what we covered:
GenAI has unlocked what was not possible before – to use natural language and just get an answer back.
How genAI has opened up a new world of opportunity, just as the move to smart phones created a new foundation.
How Nik sees the evolution of what AI can do. From NLP / ML to genAI. Described as a series of waves of AI enabling lawyers to be more strategic as routine work is absorbed.
His latest view is that AI allows lawyers to do what should have always been doing, but volume of data made impossible before. I.e. back to strategic thinking and providing higher value.
RT then adds that this is all about rebalancing, as too many tasks now are not really legal work.
RT – ‘We need a power-sharing agreement between the lawyers and the AI’. Lawyers think of themselves as the masters of their kingdom, but that is changing. Made sense before, as tech was not there that could change things. But, now it can. So, a new approach is needed.
RT – we should not see AI as a ‘serf’ for lawyers, but something they share power with. Even if the lawyers do final sign off on work product.
Nik adds massive data and the lawyer’s need to handle every risk leads to a ‘contract catastrophe’.
Nik explores the notion of agency – what agency do we give AI agents? How does that compare to the agency of lawyers?
And we look at what Nik is most excited about for the Legal Innovators California conference in San Francisco, June 11 and 12.
You can find more about Knowable here.
—
Legal Innovators California Conference, San Francisco, June 11 + 12
If you’re interested in the cutting edge of legal AI and innovation – and where we are all heading – then come along to Legal Innovators California, in San Francisco, June 11 and 12, where speakers from the leading law firms, inhouse teams, and tech companies will be sharing their insights and experiences as to what is really happening and where we are all heading.
We already have an incredible roster of companies to hear from. This includes: Legora, Harvey, StructureFlow, Ivo, Flatiron Law Group, PointOne, Centari, LexisNexis, eBrevia, Legatics, Knowable, Draftwise, newcode.AI, Riskaway, Aracor, SimpleClosure and more.

See you all there!
More information and tickets here.