Head-to-head: "Is AI a risk or an opportunity for business law?" (with José Luís Moreira da Silva)

JE Advisory face-to-face on Artificial Intelligence, between António Jaime Martins, founding partner of ATMJ and José Luís Moreira da Silva, Partner at SRS Legal and President of the Portuguese Law Firms Association.

Here's José Luís Moreira da Silva's testimony:

"It is above all a great opportunity, although not without some risks that must be properly controlled.
It's a huge opportunity, because it makes it possible to handle repetitive work with no room for innovation or creativity automatically, saving huge costs for the client and gaining efficiency. This is the case with due diligence work, translations or the preparation of standardised contracts, which are usually very time-consuming, but which AI can carry out with enormous advantages and in very little time.
Provided it is properly parameterised and worked on by people with experience in its use, AI will do these jobs without errors and with greater efficiency, allowing lawyers to devote themselves to other tasks with greater added value.
There is always some risk, as we are talking about digital tools, which depend on good parameterisation and the use of the right algorithms and machine learning techniques. More than anything, it's important that users know how the software works and what its limits are, and that they don't want something that AI can't do. Another risk is cybersecurity, considering the possible use outside the network and the possible appropriation of data by unauthorised third parties, which requires investments in cybersecurity and periodic security audits.
In any case, its increasing use is unavoidable."