







In truth, researchers have found predictive coding to be as accurate, if not more so, than the attorneys its replacing. As the WSJ noted: 


The research also showed that predictive coding was more precise, flagging fewer irrelevant documents than humans did.

"Human readers get tired and make mistakes. They get fatigued," says David Breau, an associate at law firm Sidley Austin LLP who has written about predictive coding.

Shorter version: There is now software that's smarter and more efficient at these tasks than a human with a JD. Not only that, but it's finally being given sanction by the courts, which would have the power to stop such a new technology in its tracks if they chose. 

For the legal industry, this is a mixed blessing. The same way that robotics have created factories that need fewer workers, these programs will create firms that need fewer lawyers (even if it just means they're renting fewer temps). Firms that have already figured out how to prosper without the enormous margins they achieved by charging egregious fees for associates to perform menial labor will benefit. The partners will keep on doing the most valuable work, even as the bottom rungs of their firms shrink. 

But what about the rest of us? We're now living in the age of Watson, everyone's favorite Jeopardy-playing computer, where intelligent software has become more skilled at recognizing and fetching relevant information than most people. It's precise enough to do our taxes. It's precise enough to satisfy a judge. And the people who benefit most from it are those at the top of an industry, the people like law firm partners who are paid to take information and shape it into a narrative. 

This is how countries get more productive and more prosperous. As we learn to make goods and perform services more efficiently, their prices come down. The question is what new jobs replace the old ones that are lost in the churn. As of now, who knows what they'll be? Maybe in a few years there will be program I can ask. 
