Extract from Benjamin Joyner’s article “Legal Tech Improvements Won’t Knock Out Need for Prompt Engineering Skills, Experts Say”
Recent legal tech product innovations like pre-built workflows, extensive prompt libraries and back-end systems designed to convert plain language requests into optimized prompts may seem to diminish the importance of prompt engineering as part of the legal skill set. But experts say the need to know how to prompt generative artificial intelligence-powered tools is not going by the wayside. The nature of how large language models (LLMs) work and the need to adhere to firm preferences and client guidelines mean attorneys will still be well served to hone prompt engineering skills going forward.
“Prompt engineering at its core [uses] natural language to steer an LLM to get the results you want, to solve a particular task for you, on your behalf, in collaboration with you,” said Jeff Gilles, lead gen AI solutions engineer at Relativity. “Building the basic skills of being able to engage with these things in nuanced ways is just part and parcel of effectively using them.”
Needed Customizations
Legal tech companies have sought to make their products easier to use by limiting the need for users to create carefully crafted prompts.
