The Hong Kong Bar Association’s vice-chair said lawyers remain ultimately responsible for information generated by artificial intelligence and must check it themselves before use. AI must not replace independent professional judgment, she said at an international lawyers’ congress in Morocco.
She said AI could help with routine work such as reviewing contracts and organising case chronologies, potentially freeing barristers to spend more time on deeper legal research and advocacy, which could benefit the administration of justice.
Practising barristers must continue to follow the association’s Code of Conduct, including requirements to be fit and proper and competent, she said. The association monitors barristers’ use of AI and has established an AI and Ethics committee.
She said AI might eventually handle some legal work, such as research, accurately as technology advances, but court advocacy would be difficult to replace because barristers help courts and judges reach fair decisions through their arguments.