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PlaintiffSide t1_ja7ipvj wrote

You can use this to live life as it’s meant to be lived… for each moment, for today, for there’s no guarantee of tomorrow. For how long have humans had ten-, twenty-, or even fifty-year plans? Not long.

I appreciate your point, though. For instance, I’m starting my career as a lawyer. I can’t help but to think that 10 years from now AGI will practically wipe out my practice area. However, I remind myself that: (1) For 20 years, I’ve been hearing that AGI will soon eliminate lawyers and (2) This is what I want to do for its own sake, for as long as I can; it’s not that it would only be worth doing if I could do it for the rest of my life (which would be more apt for an awful government job that someone starts solely so they can get a pension at the end).

If you find yourself absolutely convinced that the world will be unrecognizable in 1-5 years (and I don’t disagree), then count yourself lucky for seeing beyond this moment; don’t despair over what you, and everyone else, is losing—think about how you can take advantage of this moment. You can be better prepared than everyone else who doesn’t see what’s on the horizon.

Let it excite you; let it energize you; let it be an opportunity of which you’re in on the ground floor.

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V_Shtrum t1_ja8q5d3 wrote

I think attorneys are much more likely to be augmented by AI than replaced in our working lifetimes. Even if the technology is there, lawyers enjoy privileges and professional protection that won't be granted to algorithms. Seems like a comparatively safe bet compared with management consulting or copywriting for example.

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PlaintiffSide t1_ja8qg9w wrote

I can imagine some practice areas being wiped out and attorneys being augmented by AI means many attorneys would be made obsolete—one attorney with a good AI would be more productive than one attorney overseeing a handful of associates.

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V_Shtrum t1_ja8s4yi wrote

>I can imagine some practice areas being wiped out

Don't know the specifics, but as a layman I can imagine a lot of people might get some DIY legal advice from an algorithm, may reduce the number of consultations to firms and reduce revenue.

>one attorney with a good AI would be more productive than one attorney overseeing a handful of associates.

Agreed, easy to forsee this, will be the same with software devs though most seem in denial about it.

However:

  1. The legal profession is practical as well as intellectual: representing clients in court, seeing the whites of their eyes, communicating good and bad news, counseling clients, convincing a judge, literally twisting clients arms etc.

  2. Lawyers enjoy legal protection not afforded to other professionals / AI. There's nothing stopping me using ChatGPT to code, but ChatGPT can't represent me in court.

  3. The courts (etc) are very conservative and resistant to technological change.

Still think it's a safer bet then many other fields.

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