Strategic AI Courses for the legal sector 

Australia faces a critical AI skills gap. Work is underway to build Australia’s technical skills in data science and STEM. However, there remains an urgent need to build strategic expertise in AI. Without the latter, we risk powerful AI tools causing adverse impacts, ranging from inaccurate predictions to system inefficiencies, to unfair discrimination. 

When it comes to AI and the law, we know that there is a sector-wide need for legal professionals to upskill. The 2017 Future of Law and Innovation in the Profession report made 19 recommendations about how the profession needs to adapt to technological change – but we are still some way from the profession rising to meet the opportunities and challenges posed by AI. HTI’s training for the legal profession is designed to help bridge the gap between where we are now, and where we want to be.  

HTI Skills Lab solution

In partnership with LexisNexis, HTI’s Skills Lab is offering courses to address these critical skills gaps within the legal profession - whether using AI within your legal practice; advising organisations on the procurement, use, or development of AI; or supporting clients who have been impacted by AI. Growing legal professionals’ expertise in these areas will be vital to ensuring that AI is developed, procured, and implemented to meet our community’s needs. 

HTI offers three principal types of training to the legal profession: 

Customised leadership workshops for senior lawyers 

These leadership workshops build understanding of the strategic risks and opportunities related to AI for senior lawyers and executives responsible for the stewardship of law firms, government legal practices and in-house legal departments. 

These workshops offer leadership development for senior lawyers and focus on: 
- governance and regulatory risks and opportunities 
- applying a sound ethical approach to maintain a strong reputation 
- strategic intent and path to scale 
- workforce transformation and adaptation

Customised leadership workshops for senior lawyers are face to face and run for half to one day and have a maximum of 15 attendees.

Masterclasses for lawyers engaging directly with new technology

Lawyers specialising in the use of AI and related new technologies need a more sophisticated understanding about AI, its risks and opportunities. These masterclasses help to build skills to effectively guide the development, procurement and implementation of AI-powered systems.

These masterclasses are particularly useful to lawyers who advise clients in sectors where AI growth is high, such as financial services and insurance, taxation and infrastructure. Too often AI systems fail to meet their aims, especially in the fairness and accuracy of AI-informed decisions. This creates regulatory, trust and economic risks.

These masterclasses include: 
- introductory information regarding the operation and possible failure points of AI 
- how to identify and address legal and reputational risks typically arising in systems that use
   AI use of obligations registers 
- the ‘lifecycle’ of AI. 

Masterclasses for lawyers engaging directly with new technology run face to face for approximately 6 weeks with 2-hour weekly sessions. Classes have a maximum of 20 people.

Training on AI fundamentals for all lawyers 

All legal professionals need a core understanding of the legal implications of AI. This training is useful throughout the legal profession, at all levels of legal experience. 

The training covers areas including: 
- an overview of how AI operates 
- key causes of AI system failure  
- key considerations that must be taken into account when designing, procuring or deploying an AI system 

Training on AI fundamentals for all lawyers courses are entirely online and can be undertaken in the student’s own time.

Why Now? A growing focus on regulation, trust and financial risk 

AI is not well understood in Australia – including by senior decision makers in government, by executives in the private sector, and by many legal professionals who provide critical advice around AI development and use. This has created significant risks. For instance, Australia’s automated social security debt-recovery system (known as ‘Robodebt’) is emblematic of the dangers associated with AI and automation.  

Artificial intelligence is powering a multi-trillion-dollar transformation for Australia’s economy. The exponential growth in AI is reshaping our world. This technological revolution brings significant economic and other opportunities, but it also threatens serious harm, including to our privacy, right to equality, and other basic rights. We must upskill legal professionals across the board to ensure that Australians enjoys the benefits of AI while avoiding the harms. 

For more information on HTI’s strategic AI courses for the legal sector contact HTI@uts.edu.au