At the University of Amsterdam, Giedo Jansen, Elke Olthuis and Rachel Rietveld are investigating the impact of AI on legal professions. Their research focuses not only on whether jobs will disappear, but on how the content of legal work is changing as a result of smart technologies.

AI tools are already being used to search, analyse and summarise large volumes of legal texts, significantly reducing time spent on routine tasks. At the same time, more controversial applications are emerging, such as systems designed to predict the outcomes of court cases. These developments raise fundamental questions about trust, transparency and the ability to scrutinise automated decisions.

Volgens de onderzoekers is het gebruik van AI in het recht geen toekomstscenario meer, maar een realiteit waar professionals zich toe moeten verhouden. Dat maakt de kernvraag niet óf AI gebruikt moet worden, maar hoe juristen er verantwoord mee kunnen werken. Daarbij spelen ethische en juridische aspecten een grote rol, zoals de mogelijkheid om besluiten te controleren, burgers tot hun recht te laten komen en privacy te waarborgen wanneer grote datasets worden ingezet.

According to the researchers, the use of AI in the legal domain is no longer a distant future scenario. The key issue is therefore not whether AI should be used, but how legal professionals can work with it responsibly. Ethical and legal concerns play a central role, including accountability, the protection of fundamental rights and the handling of sensitive data.

The research initially focuses on lawyers, but its implications extend to the wider legal sector and legal education. Law students are already making extensive use of generative AI, prompting universities to rethink skills training, curricula and responsible technology use. From an Amsterdam AI perspective, the study illustrates how AI is not just a technical innovation, but a force reshaping professional practice and public values.