The legal profession is undergoing a significant transformation

ChatGPT, specialised legal tools such as Spellbook, and other artificial intelligence (AI) solutions have become our new reality. However, their availability on the market does not yet mean they have become part of everyday work.

When meeting different teams, my observation is that around 20% of employees use AI at work. This reflects my experience with the teams I have worked with, but it raises questions about the gap between what technology can do and how much it is actually used.

The OECD’s 2026 survey shows another side of this situation: 76% of small and medium-sized businesses that use AI fall into the beginner category — they use ready-made tools for individual tasks. OECD study.

In my view, an increasingly significant gap is emerging between employees who learn and use AI every day, including paid and professional tools, and those who continue working in the familiar way, relying only on their own knowledge and abilities.

AI can multiply a professional’s capabilities. An experienced specialist can use it to consolidate information, compare documents and prepare initial drafts, leaving more attention for assessment and decisions. The ability to formulate a task and verify the result is crucial.

At the same time, AI adoption gives data security new significance. Banning AI does not, by itself, eliminate the risk. In an effort to work more efficiently, employees may use personal accounts and tools that the company has not approved, including free solutions. Company information may then end up in services whose data-processing terms have not been assessed. The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre also highlights the risks of such unapproved use.

A more forward-looking approach is to define which tasks AI may be used for, what information may be entered and who checks the result. Employees also need training and company-assessed tools with appropriate data-protection terms. A tool’s price alone cannot be used as a measure of security.

These questions are becoming particularly relevant for in-house legal teams. Workloads are growing and answers are needed faster, while requirements for confidentiality and consistently high document quality remain. Managers also need to consider how the whole team learns to use the tools and how their use becomes a shared working practice.

One practical starting point is Spellbook for contract work, which I use every day. Its suitability can be assessed through a specific task, checking the quality of the result and the time spent, as well as the data-processing terms.