AI Empowering Strategic Risk Management In-house

Note: This article is just one of 60+ sections from our full report titled: The 2024 Legal AI Retrospective - Key Lessons from the Past Year. Please download the full report to check any citations.

Empowering Strategic Risk Management

Enterprises with the most AI-friendly in-house legal teams that use AI most effectively will be able to spend more time taking on and managing strategic risks for their organization. This shift allows in-house lawyers to focus on the kind of high-level legal work they studied law to practice, ultimately providing more value to their organizations and enhancing their professional satisfaction.

These advantages demonstrate the transformative potential of AI for in-house legal teams. By leveraging AI technologies, corporate legal departments can enhance their accuracy, efficiency, and access to specialized knowledge, ultimately providing more value to their organizations. AI has the potential to 'level the playing field' between large corporations with extensive legal resources and smaller companies with limited in-house legal capabilities. While the advantages are significant, they should be balanced against potential challenges and ethical considerations. The U.S. Department of State released a "Risk Management Profile for Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights" as a practical guide for organizations to design, develop, deploy, use, and govern AI in a manner consistent with respect for international human rights.[92] Additionally, NIST has developed a framework to better manage risks to individuals, organizations, and society associated with artificial intelligence (AI).[93]

"Published guidelines for ethical AI use, such as those from organizations like the The European Commission and the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), provide useful frameworks for fairness, transparency, and accountability. However, more needs to be done to make these guidelines actionable and enforceable"

Natalie Salunke, General Counsel, UK