“LEARNED” NO MORE?: AI AND THE QUIET REVOLUTION IN LEGAL PRACTICE
INTRODUCTION In the quiet of a courtroom, tradition often feels invincible. Legal robes, solemn judges, and the weight of precedent define a space long thought immune to disruption. Yet in a world where artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping industries from medicine to finance, the legal profession has clung to the belief that it is untouchable. Its rituals, reasoning, and rhetoric have seemed too human, too intuitive, too nuanced to replicate. But even here, change has arrived—not as a junior advocate, but as a digital legal assistant. As a digital rights advocate with an appreciation for law and information technology , I have long been intrigued by the intersection of technology and justice . Motivated by AI’s evolving capabilities, I developed a legal assistant tool capable of analysing judgments, identifying legal issues, predicting appellate outcomes , and supporting litigants—particularly those who, under Ghanaian law, are entitled to represent themselves. The my...