Why Hype Is Outpacing the Reality of Legal AI Adoption

Malbek’s Ed Breault reports that at Carnegie Mellon University’s Legal AI Summit, a gathering of researchers, legal ops leaders, and practitioners offered a sobering reality check on where legal artificial intelligence (AI) stands. They provided an in-depth analysis of why hype is outpacing the reality of legal AI adoption and why integration planning must be prioritized.

A statistic from MIT framed the challenge: While most organizations have explored or piloted generative AI, only a small fraction have implemented it. This disconnect underscores that a legal AI rollout is less about whether the technology works and more about whether organizations are prepared to support it. 

Carnegie Mellon University Professor Gram Neubig identified the critical issues as system accuracy and reliability, integration with existing systems, interface design, and user training. Compounding these issues is AI’s growing reliance on synthetic training data, which can increase errors if vendors haven’t been thoroughly validated and lack transparency. 

Ashley Willoughby, director of global legal operations at Coherent Corp., highlighted the hidden integration problems facing legal AI adoption. Mergers and acquisitions, legacy systems, and fragmented workflows routinely derail AI initiatives. Addressing such problems requires planning for integration, managing change, and addressing disruption from mergers and acquisitions. 

Panelists repeatedly returned to a core principle: AI amplifies both expertise and mistakes. Used by experienced professionals, it can unlock significant productivity gains. Deployed without thoughtful design, it risks de-skilling teams and eroding judgment. The most successful strategies focus on augmentation rather than wholesale automation.

The takeaway for legal ops leaders is clear. Sustainable return on investment depends on realistic expectations for accuracy, disciplined integration planning, vendor transparency, and serious investment in change management. Legal AI’s next chapter will reward organizations that prioritize readiness and trust over hype and speed.