Extract from Jay Madheswaran’s article “The Next Frontier: AI Agents for Law Firms”
Today, any conversation about AI inevitably includes a mention of agents. That’s because, well, there’s a lot to talk about.
Described by OpenAI leaders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman as systems capable of autonomous action towards loosely defined goals, AI agents represent a tectonic shift in how we interact with intelligent systems.
But agents are not “just chatbots” as many might think. Unlike traditional AI models focused on immediate responses, agents autonomously plan, utilize tools (like web browsers), and adapt based on new information.
Imagine an AI assistant seamlessly managing your legal tasks without input: it checks your calendar, understands your case priorities, drafts legal documents, and schedules court appearances—exemplifying the potential of agentic capabilities in the legal industry.
This scenario is actually more common that most might think. In fact, many law firms today already run agents on the backend of their AI systems to perform a number of tasks.
