Can AI Get You a Legal Document Template?
Just imagine, now you can chat with AI tools, and they will reply to you, answer questions, explain what they see around you, and give recommendations you need. And that’s just scratching the surface of what AI can pull off, as during the presentation of the new GPT-4 chat.
But here’s an intriguing experiment: What if we asked GPT-4 to draft a legal contract? Specifically, could AI handle some simple documents without a lawyer’s intervention?
The Generative AI Experiment
Lawyers from Lawrina came up with a relatively straightforward request for GPT-4:
I provide legal services to a US company for six months. I have the right to cooperate with other companies, will be paid at an hourly rate of $150, and the total amount of working hours must not exceed 60 hours per month. Add as many legal provisions as possible to protect my rights and make the contract valid.
In essence, this is the kind of request you would bring up to a lawyer if you needed such a document. Here, you can find even more details that a person typically shares with a lawyer during the first meeting.
If you ask the basic version of the chat to make you a contract, it will refuse in three out of three cases, explaining that “it is not a lawyer and does not provide legal services.“
The question looms: Does GPT-4 have the same position?
When asked, GPT-4 created a legal document template with gaps where you’d need to insert some data about yourself. So, no problem with not being a lawyer.
But is the legal template generated with AI even legally binding?
The document didn’t meet expectations. However, in some places, it adhered to the general structure of a contract, meaning some of the necessary points to make the contract valid were present.
In plain terms, the document is missing about half of the necessary details and information to support your claim and protect you in case of disputes.
Here’s the catch with AI: At the output, AI provides a document that is a formal contract but may fall apart at the first conflict between parties.
If someone asks AI to make a contract and include extensive legal provisions, it likely means that the person does not know what’s needed to make the contract solid. The chat here acts as a legal expert; the person chose AI over consulting a lawyer. However, this approach has significant drawbacks.
If you feel like diving deep into the analysis done by a lawyer of an AI-generated document, check out Lawrina’s fresh research and find out if it is worth using AI to generate documents.
The Hallucination Problem
AI hallucinations are a known issue: AI hallucinations occur when AI states a false fact but believes it to be 100% true, not considering other options.
Due to their complex structure, deep neural networks, which are often used in generative AI, can sometimes produce these hallucinations.
Question: Can you truly verify if the AI has not hallucinated non-existent rules or references in your legal document?
AI Contract vs. Real Customized Legal Document
To start on a positive note, GPT-4 understood the document should be about providing services, not employment relationships. It even included a clause protecting the contractor’s rights:
In the event of termination, the Client shall pay the Attorney for all services rendered and expenses incurred up to the effective date of termination.
For instance, a lease agreement requires detailed provisions to be legally binding.
Still, a lot of critical elements were missing:
Detailed termination procedure: The chat set 30 days for payment, which is rare.
Rights and obligations: Missing essential provisions.
Document approval: No process for approving developed documents or accepting services.
Service quality: Unclear process if the client finds the services inadequate.
Check out the way Independent contractor agreement template should look like.
A commercial lease, for example, would need specific clauses to protect both the landlord and the tenant.
Experts say: Without all the critical parts, the document does not protect the party asking the AI for this contract.
So, What Are the Options?
As you see, AI cannot generate a legal document. Sure, it can create templates missing over half of the necessary points. But when it comes to legal documents, you need something that will cover you 100%.
How do you get a legal document without dealing with AI?
Hire a lawyer. To get a legal document, you need to find a lawyer, plan a meeting, and wait for the document to be ready. Depending on the lawyer’s rate and availability, document prices may start at about $300 and go beyond. For instance, a property management agreement requires professional handling to ensure all responsibilities are clearly defined.
Use a legal template. You can find both free and paid templates online. Free versions might be dubious, whereas paid ones (like Lawrina’s for $39.95) offer quality crafted by specialized lawyers.
DIY approach. Creating the document yourself is an option, but it is fraught with risks and potentially time-consuming for someone unfamiliar with legal intricacies. So, even when doing the document yourself, you’ll need to show it to a lawyer to be sure it is valid.
Conclusion
While AI has made impressive strides, it cannot yet create fully legal documents. It can produce something that resembles a contract, but you can never be sure it’s free from AI hallucinations or completely legal.
AI can create something that looks like a document, but you will never be sure that it is not a product of AI hallucinations but a truly 100% legal document.