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In the Know: Top 5 Legal Technology Trends for the 2020s
Technology is changing more rapidly than ever impacting our work, and personal lives. In the previous decade, technologies we could never imagine have become interwoven in all aspects of our lives. With technology playing such a huge role, it is important for legal marketers to be familiar with technology trends to understand the potential impact on our clients and law firm. This allows us to keep our attorneys informed so they can help their clients understand the potential impact on their company. Before we explore the top 5 legal technology trends, let's reflect on several technologies the 2010s brought us. Some of the technologies in these devices are included in my top 5.
|Smart Home Technology
With the release of the Nest thermostat, we were introduced to Smart home technology which may also be termed home automation. Smart home technology allows users to remotely control and monitor their connected home devices from Smart home apps, smartphones, or other networked devices whether they are home or away. These connected devices are the Internet of Things (IoT). This technology automates your ability to control items around the house from window shades to bird feeders. Smart home technology is now being used to create Smart Cities where systems are monitored to more efficiently run the cities and save money.
|Virtual Assistant
We were introduced in 2015 to Amazon Alexa. Amazon's Alexa uses natural language generation and processing, and machine learning, forms of artificial intelligence (AI) to operate and learn over time. Alexa is capable of voice interaction, music playlists, making-to-do list and many other skills, including Jeopardy. As of April 2019, Amazon had 90,000+ skills Alexa could perform. Amazon Alexa also has a paid subscription service (Alexa for Business) which allows an employee to use Alexa as their intelligent assistant. In 2018, Amazon launched Alexa for Hospitality announcing Marriott as its launch partner. Legal industry vendors such as Thomson Reuters Elite and Case.one have integrated products with Alexa.
|Wearable Technology
Fitbit and Apple watch introduced us to wearable technology to provide real-time insights, statistics, and help us make informed life style choices. Wearable technology has been used in professional sports to monitor and provide real-time feedback for athletes on their energy expenditure and movement pattern. For example, thanks to a tiny chip inside the shoulder pads of Dallas Cowboy Ezekiel Elliott, we learned that he ran 21.27 miles per hour on a 44-yard run in a playoff against the Giants.
|Top Five Legal Tech Trends
|1. Quantum Computing
In my opinion, this will be the most disruptive technology of this decade. Imagine quantum computers that could:
- Make U.S. stealth technology obsolete;
- Hack financial institution and government infrastructure firewalls; and
- Able to break blockchain encryption.
What is quantum computing? A quantum computer is any device that uses the principles of quantum mechanics to perform calculations. Regular computers use binary units called bits, which represent one of two possible states: 0 or 1. Quantum computers rely on quantum bits (qbits) which can be both 0 and 1 at the same time. This allows them to perform certain tasks much faster than regular computers. In 2019, Google's Sycamore quantum processor completed a task in 200 seconds that Goggle estimated would take 10,000 years for 100,000 conventional computers running the fastest algorithms currently known.
With quantum computing, lawyers would be able to perform a level of predictive analysis inconceivable today. For example, a lawyer could know the outcome of a complex jury trial before a set of parties are aware of any dispute. Contractual legal work could be solved in the future combining quantum computers with transaction recording blockchain platforms without any real human effort.
|2. Cognitive Computing
Knowledge management (KM) and artificial intelligence (AI) are about knowledge. KM allows an understanding of knowledge to occur while AI provides the capabilities to expand, use, and create knowledge in ways not even imagined. This KM and AI connection is leading the way for cognitive computing. Cognitive computing uses computerized models to simulate the human thought processes. It involves self/deep learning artificial neural network software that uses text/data mining, pattern recognition and natural language processing to mimic the way the human brain works. The goal is to accelerate our ability to create, learn, make decisions and think.
Many KM professionals believe that search carries the most cognitive computing potential in the context of KM. Search becomes more natural as systems use natural language processing to interpret the meaning of requests and extend the reach to new data sets and scenarios. As people become more accustomed to digital assistants in their lives, they are ready to interact this way with their KM system at work.
|3. Web 3.0
Web 3.0 is the next evolution of the web. While Web 2.0 was about socialization, Web 3.0 focuses on people and how they interact with each other through the web. Web 3.0 is about providing intelligence, which includes semantic/natural language search, location awareness and recommendation engines. The table at right is a quick comparison of each generation of Internet services.
Through Web 3.0, marketers will better understand consumption, buying, and specific user behavior. Web 3.0 makes it easy for marketers to segment and target their customers more specifically providing them with a more personalized experience. Consumers will be re-directed to most relevant results specific to their needs with Web 3.0 acting as their personal assistant.
|4. 5G Cellular Networks
5G is the next generation of mobile broadband that will eventually replace, or at least augment your 4G LTE connection. With 5G, you'll see exponentially faster download and upload speeds. Latency, or the time it takes devices to communicate with wireless networks will drastically decrease. All major carriers have launched some form of a 5G network is some cities, but like 4G, will take some time before we see the full benefits.
What does 5G mean for the legal industry? The rollout of 5G over the next several years will likely prompt legal challenges and legislative actions involving licensing, property rights, patent claims, privacy, cybersecurity, health concerns and other issues. City council members in Mill Valley, a small town north of San Francisco, voted unanimously last year to block 5G small cell towers in residential areas after getting significant pushback from the people living there. The concern was over potential health hazards posed by 5G technology.
Legal assistance will be required to address new liability and regulatory consideration by activities made possible by 5G such as:
- Autonomous vehicles;
- Robot doctors;
- Remote healthcare (including surgery);
- Virtual and augmented reality; and
- Universal surveillance.
5. Human Augmentation
Human augmentation refers to the use of technology to improve the cognitive and physical experiences of humans. There are two types of augmentation — physical and cognitive.
Physical augmentation alters the person's inherent physical capability by implanting or hosting a technology within their bodies. There are four categories:
- Sensory augmentation: Involves hearing, vision, and perception. Examples include virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR).
- Appendage and biological function augmentation: Used to replace or enhance such capabilities. LASIK surgery and cochlear implants are examples.
- Brain augmentation: Brain implants are being used to treat seizures. They are also being used for memory storage, decoding neural patterns, and synthesizing speech.
- Genetic augmentation: Somatic gene and cell therapies are used to treat children with severe combined immune therapy. CRISPR technologies can be used to tinker with our DNA to improve traits like intelligence, athleticism, and even moral reasoning.
Cognitive augmentation improves the human thought and decision-making process. It involves physical implants that deal with cognitive reasoning and includes augmented intelligence scenarios where humans and AI work together to enhance cognitive performance.
While this has an element of sci-fi to it, this is all very real and we're likely to see more advances in the next decade. In 2006, a Cincinnati surveillance firm required all employees working in its secure data center to have RFIDs implanted in their triceps. Three Square Market employees volunteered to have a RFID injected into their hand in 2017 to make it easier to get into the office, log into their computers, and buy food and drinks in the company cafeteria.
Organizations looking to implement human augmentation technologies need to be aware of:
- Security risks;
- Privacy issues;
- Compliance issues;
- Health impact; and
- Ethical issues.
Key Takeaways
- Law firms will need to have lawyers educated on these technologies to understand the impact on their clients to help guide them through any potential legal issues.
- Legal marketers, especially legal marketing technologists, should have a basic understanding of technology trends to help educate the lawyers on the potential impact to their clients and identify business development opportunities.
*****
Deb Dobson is the Marketing Technology Manager at Fisher Phillips. She can be reached at [email protected]. Connect via LinkedIn or follow her on Twitter @debdobson.
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