Experienced writers and editors are always looking for ways to leverage technology in their work. I partner with clients to use today’s tools effectively.

Large Language Models

In the context of research, writing, and editing, it’s important to remember what LLMs actually are: models trained on vast data sets to predict and generate text that sounds like it was written by a human. LLMs are powerful tools for increasing efficiency on certain kinds of content tasks. However, as we all now know from many highly publicized cases of AI gone wrong, LLMs also generate errors and raise concerns about confidentiality. They predict, but they don’t actually understand. That’s a key distinction.

In my work, I comply with each client’s individual firm practice and policy. I also follow the guidelines below. If a conflict arises between a policy and these guidelines, I address it promptly to create an efficient and sensible path forward.

• All content must be reviewed by at least one human to ensure accuracy.

• Confidential information should never be shared with an AI platform.

• All members of a project team must be transparent about how AI is and is not being used in the work.

• Smart people can disagree about the best role for AI in content creation. These tools are always changing, and effective policies come from discussions that carefully weigh the risks and benefits.

• Focus on value. AI tools should add value by creating efficiency and consistency, generating new ideas, and generally lightening the load on the team. Quickly creating a poor-quality finished product does not actually save anyone time or money.

Generative AI Search

Clients and prospects increasingly rely on summaries created by generative-AI search platforms to learn about law firms. This “zero-click” search environment has upended long-standing SEO-based practices, and our industry is still in the process of understanding generative-engine optimization (GEO) — how to create public-facing content that performs well under these new conditions. The good news is that GEO generally rewards content that is high quality: well organized, client centered, credible, and designed to answer the questions clients are actually asking about your firm. In the GEO environment, your content now serves as “reputation capital.” Our work together can build, enhance, and protect these assets.