WIPR survey: No fears over artificial intelligence impact on jobs

Lawyers are not concerned about the potential disruptive impact that artificial intelligence (AI) will have on jobs in intellectual property, a WIPR survey has revealed.

Last week we asked whether readers are worried about whether AI will soon disrupt jobs and practices in the IP profession.

At the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys Congress last week in London, John Straw, a consultant at financial services company McKinsey & Company, argued that the development of AI will mean many services provided by lawyers will be eventually completed by computers instead.

He argued that no new jobs will be created with the new technology’s development.

But more than 70% of respondents to the survey said they are not concerned.

One respondent believed that lawyers will adapt well to the technology.

“The IP professions will, I suspect, adapt well, using AI-generated material to produce a better service to their clients.”

The respondent cited assistance with prior art searches as one way that AI can help lawyers.

Another respondent noted that AI won’t be able to imitate the services provided by IP lawyers.

“Solid IP rights advice requires some creativity, a quality that AI is not expected to master in the foreseeable future,” the respondent said.

This week we ask readers: “Under the Trans-Pacific Partnership the period of data exclusivity available to biological drugs will be five years. Is this long enough to encourage investment in the field?”