Pim, an experienced innovator and speaker in the realm of technology and innovation, is guiding law firms and legal departments on how to effectively use artificial intelligence in their day-to-day operations. We asked Pim three questions, including insights into his upcoming session at Lexpo'24.

Pim, in your opinion, what are the most pressing challenges and exciting opportunities in legal technology and innovation today?

As our machines become more powerful and data more abundant, AI is set to make both companies and individuals more self-reliant when it comes to legal services. This trend puts pressure on legal service providers to either specialize or productize their offerings. Specialization is a strategy familiar to most law firms, and it will undoubtedly lead to intensified competition. Productization is what a select number of large firms are betting on. They are partnering with Big Tech to create Large Language Models that can do legal tasks. This strategy requires billions of euros and huge amounts of training data. So this is only an option for firms with very deep pockets. Does this mean specialization is the only path forward for smaller firms and legal departments?

Fortunately, the answer is no. Technologies, specifically machine learning, natural language processing (NLP), and generative AI, offer incredible opportunities for legal service providers of all sizes. Even without the enormous budgets of the larger firms, smaller and medium-sized legal service providers can leverage available technology to innovate and remain competitive. This possibility is incredibly exciting to me. The critical factors for success include the ability to embrace proven tech, improve efficiency and use the freed up time to add human value for clients.

If you could implement one futuristic technology in today's legal industry, what would it be and how do you think it would revolutionize the field?

The most interesting development I am following closely is that companies such as Meta, Google and, more recently, X.ai are open-sourcing their large language models, as well as their smaller models. This opens up new possibilities for law firms and legal departments to download these open-source models, and install them on their own dedicated servers. Such an approach ensures that sensitive data remains within their secure online environment. Additionally, it allows these firms to fine-tune the models for a variety of tasks that junior legal professionals currently perform.

Fine tuning should not be taken lightly. It’s still quite hard to do, but you asked me for a futuristic technology that can revolutionize the field. The implications of this technology are profound, potentially transforming the way young legal professionals are trained and the skill sets that will become prevalent in the legal sector. We're likely to see data scientists and legal professionals working together closely, not only in startups that challenge the status quo but also within more traditional legal settings.

Can you give us a sneak peek into the topics you’ll be addressing at Lexpo’24 and indicate what attendees can expect to learn?

Sure! At Lexpo'24, I'll be diving into how AI is reshaping legal practices today and what's on the horizon. We'll explore how practical AI tools are making real impacts, learn from firms that are already using AI effectively, and peek into future tech that could shake things up even more. Plus, I’ll show the most common generative AI use cases that you as a legal professional can apply now to become more efficient. Expect to leave with actionable insights on using AI to keep your legal practice ahead of the curve.