For years now, lawyers have been told that the robots were coming for their jobs. Of course, that warning was largely ignored, with many shrugging it off as technobabble nonsense. Come on, let’s be serious. How could a robot replace a lawyer?
Well, now that an artificial intelligence bot exists that can not only score well enough on law school exams to make it to graduation, but can also pass the bar exam, lawyers are starting to get a little worried.
ChatGPT may be ready to be a lawyer, but is it ready to work in Biglaw? Would the chatbot be able to hack it in such a high-pressure environment? To find out, we asked ChatGPT to write a poem about the Biglaw experience and the billable hour. The result a little too human but at least associates know that their new robot overlord already feels their pain.
The clock ticks on, as hours fly by,
A constant race, with no time to sigh.
Two thousand hours, a year’s demand,
A looming task, that’s hard to withstand.
The days are long, the nights are short,
A constant hustle, with no time to sort.
Each hour tracked, each task assigned,
A pressure to bill, that’s always on the grind.
The bonus in sight, a carrot to chase,
A constant push, with no time to pace.
But with every hour, comes a cost,
Of time and energy, that’s forever lost.
Family and friends, fade into the past,
As work consumes, all that we have.
We strive for success, with no end in sight,
But at what cost, this constant fight?
The money may be very nice,
But at what true cost, this constant vice?
We’ll look back and wonder, if it was worth the price,
Of a life consumed, by the never-ending grind of Biglaw, and a life of sacrifice.
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.
